Wolfram & Harts New Clients III: The Gotham Files
by texaswookie
Summary: Angel and the Wolfram & Hart team interview ten of Gotham's criminals.
1. Bane

**The texaswookie struggled uselessly in the iron grip of the man that was holding him high above his head. "The choice is very simple, you can either give the disclaimer or I can break your back." Bane said from where he was holding onto the writer.**

**"Fine I the texaswookie lay no claim to any of the characters used. D.C owns the Batman and his Rogues gallery characters and Joss owns the Wolfram and Hart team."**

**"Thank you." Bane said as he let the writer down from where he was holding him.**

* * *

Angel looked up as he saw his team preparing themselves as well as they could for whatever business it was that they were going to be thrown into today. The group had been forced for the past few days to listen as they interviewed various scum bags from the supernatural and the regular world. They had dealt with spies assassins dirty cops and a host of other kinds of monsters. If Lorne was to be believed they even had Brittany Spears and he understood that there were some talks of getting some kid by the name of Hannah Montana to sign on with them. He didn't know who that was really but he would trust Lorne to deal with whatever it was that was going one. The vampire turned to look at the pile that Gunn had brought him today. The grimace of the former vampire hunter made the dark haired champion to look at him questioning. "That bad?"

"You could say that man." The dark skinned man responded as he fell into his seat a depressive air around him.

"What happened Gunn?" Wesley questioned as he slid into his own seat looking at his companion curiously as the others all slid into their own seats around the table as they prepared to go through the next bunch of files that the lawyer had brought for them to examine.

"Well it seems that word of mouth is getting around for our work." Gunn grumbled to the others as he leaned back and glared at the pile of folders. He sent one more glare at the final folder before he climbed to his feet. "Might as well clear your schedules ya'll, we got us a plane to catch." The young man said as he began leading the group out of the room.

"A plane, and why do we have a plane to catch sweetums?" Lorne asked as he and the others followed after the lawyer.

Gunn looked at his friends humorlessly. "Because, we got to go to Gotham that's why." He grumbled at the group. "It seems that someone there talked and now everyone else and their dog wants us to represent them and it's just easier for us to just head down there than to do it from here. The police explained that to many of the people that want to hire us are flight risks and that if we really want to represent these folks then we got to do it from there.

"Yeah this is great." Eve said from where she was standing appearing behind Fred who squeaked in fear. "The Senior Partners are really excited about this one actually they've been looking for a way to get their foot in the door in the legal system that's Gotham. It's been a bit of a pain the last few years to get it done. Thanks to your work though we'll finally be able to do all of the things that we've been wanting to do with that town. Some of the people there are dark enough that they might even sell their souls without even needing a whole lot of persuasion. So do try and make all of these deals to work out please this could really help us out after all."

Angel growled at the representative for Wolfram and Hart. We really don't need you telling us what's good for us. He informed the woman.

"Oh but come on, you know that I'm right." The woman returned to him with her superior smirk enjoying getting a rise out of the Master Vampire. "So shall we go?"

"What?" Angel said pausing and turning to look at the woman in disbelief as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"You heard me shall we go?" Eve returned her smirk growing into a cocky grin. "The limo is waiting in the garage with all of your basics anything else that you might need we can have delivered or we can buy. So I say again shall we go."

"And what makes you think that we're going to go with you tagging along?" Wesley asked curiously as he observed the woman.

"Because, I'm your main connection with the Senior Partners that's why." The woman returned to the former Watcher as if it was rather simple. The others looked at Angel who reluctantly nodded his head at them. "See, now was that really so hard? Maybe we'll be lucky and meet the Batman I hear he's as dramatic as you are boss man." The young woman mocked as she led the group toward the elevator.

* * *

The group made their way into the building. The prison was set up so that it was overlooking the city. Angel looked over his shoulder and saw the gothic structures of the city. This place screamed darkness yet surprisingly there seemed to be little in the manner of a supernatural presence here. It was as if the place was trying to show the levels that humanity could sink to. He looked up into the sky and saw the image of a Bat hovering in the sky. A part of him yearned to head for the light to meet the Dark Knight of the regular world. He shook his head though as he turned away from the sight that called toward him and entered into the depths of Arkam Asylum.

Eve smiled approvingly at Angel as she led them toward the front desk. This place here has such a great feel to it. The woman said brightly smiling as if she was entering a spa or chocolate factory.

Gunn ignored the woman as he drew up to the desk." Hey I have a list of people that have requested our services. We are here to conduct interviews to see if it's worth our time." The lawyer said as he presented his paperwork and credentials.

The man nodded as he took a glance at the list. The man lost his balance as he stared at the paper. "You want to willingly be placed in the same room as these psychos?" The man asked in disbelief as he stared at the group before him as if they could do with time in cell themselves. "You do realize that most of these people would just as soon as kill you as they would look at you right? I mean this is insane."

"Were you not prepared for us?" Gunn questioned the man. "When I talked with the Doctors in charge of the cases here they were fine with this and thought that it would be better if they went and did it all at once causing as little disturbance in the schedule as possible."

"Maybe, but still these are some of the worst in the lot that you got there and you want them to go one after another?" The man shook his head. "I hope you know what you're getting yourselves into. I also hope that you all have your will done out as well."

The man was interrupted from his trying to scare them away as a woman in a white lab coat skipped in. "Why hello you must be the Wolfram & Hart people. Joker's talked all about you." The woman said with a cheery grin that had the group on edge.

"And who are you sugar plum?" Lorne asked as he intercepted the woman before any of the others did anything stupid.

"Oh silly me, Dr. Harleen Francis Quinzel." The woman said with a smile as she offered a bewildered Fred her hand. "I'd show you around but I promised Joker that I would talk with him today. See you later." The woman said with a wave as she disappeared around the corner.

"Okay that was just wrong man, there is something just wrong with her." Gunn told the others as he watched the retreating figure. "There is just no way that someone should be that happy, particularly when they're going to talk with the Joker of all people. That guy is beyond creepy even by my standards."

"Ah there's nothing wrong with her." The man said as he gestured them into a room. "That's just her way. Sickening sweet and all that. You can use these offices for while you review the cases."

"Fine, send the first one on the list in when we call for them." Gunn informed the man as he began sorting through the files.

"Alright, the man said as he headed out.

The L.A group took their seats around a table. "Alright Gunn, just who do we have first?" Angel questioned the lawyer impatiently.

The lawyer sighed as he passed all of them their folders. "Our first person goes by the name Bane real name unknown. He attempted to take over the criminal element of Gotham by stealing a weapons shipment from the military, incited a jailbreak and riot from Arkham, he's also got a rap sheet for other crimes murder, attempted murder, gun running, assault, murder for hire, and organized crime. From what the files say he's one of the Batman's dancing partners most of the time According to our boy's records he was quite the maniac something of a prodigy when it comes to crime. Grew up in a prison and became the monster he is now. From what I can tell he was born in prison and then because his dad was dead they had him serve his dad's sentence. Something that's not legal I might add and might be able to use in some way."

"For the sins of the father." Wesley quoted sadly as he realized what that meant for the person they were dealing with.

"Yeah, something like that." The former hood confirmed to the others. "He also has several counts of using some uncontrollable drug known simply as Venom. From what the records say it's a performance enhancer makes a person super strong fast and durable."

"How strong is super strong?" Fred questioned curiously.

Gunn glared at the files. "It seems to vary depending on the amount of the drug used the basic of vampire strength and upward. Hell I think some of the results have him nearly at the level of the Beast or Jasmine while under the affects of the drug. One of the long term affects of the drug is an increase in muscle mass though."

"Show him in then, let's get this over with." Angel told the group.

Gunn nodded and pushed a button. "Send in the first prisoner if you please." There was a buzzing sound and the doors opened to reveal a man that was likely as tall if not taller than the Beast he was dressed all in a muscle shirt baggy pants and wearing a lucha libre mask much like the mail room clerk at Wolfram & Hart.

"Hola, seneors seniorita." The large man said it was as he strode into the room that they noticed the chains that were wrapped around his arms and legs that slowed him down. Four guards stood around the man uncomfortably as they watched the man.

"You can go now." Angel told the men waving them off.

"Sir, it is our responsibility to insure he doesn't kill anyone." A guard protested. "This is the guy that nearly took out the Batman."

"He'll be fine." Angel returned to the man.

"Very well, as long as you are aware of the risks then sir." The guards then moved around and connected his chains to the wall and floor. "If he does get out, this way you might get a few moments to scream and we might get here in time."

Angel chuckled a bit at the guards that were eyeing the prisoner with fear as he shifted his weight. The men shot the vampire a look before they left. Bane jerked against his chains but the only ones to react were Fred and Lorne. "It'll take a bit more than that to impress us." The vampire informed the large criminal.

"Yeah, now settle yourself down. You're the one that asked us to come remember?" Gunn reminded the criminal in annoyance.

"You'll have to forgive me senors, but I like to know just what type of people it is that I'm dealing with. Too often have I seen men act brave when the guards are around yet when they are gone they become spineless weaklings." Bane said as he calmly found a place to stand now that he had figured that the people here were more than just a lot of hot air.

"Not that I'm complaining mind you, but why do they allow you to wear a mask?" Lorne questioned as he observed the giant figure curiously.

"The doctors believe that it will help the patients if they are allowed to continue dressing in their clothes of choice." The wrestler explained to the demon.

"Hmm a most interesting theory, I wonder if I can get a cell here part time so that I can walk around without any worries." The demon said as he observed the man in his costume.

"Judging by your own wardrobe I would say that you and the Joker have similar tailors."

"Not now Lorne." Angel told the demon before he turned toward the wrestler. "Why did you request our services?" The vampire questioned the crime lord.

"It's very simple really senor Angel, I want the best and when you consider how much they're letting Joker off with after your work I figured that you had to be better than anything that I had managed to hire and you were less likely to care whether I tried to take over the criminal underworld. The man explained to them."

"Fine whatever," Gunn said not liking that the man before them thought that there services were so easy to buy. "According to this they're going to be trying you for stealing a weapons shipment from the military, incited a jailbreak and riot from Arkham, you've also got a rap sheet for other crimes murder, attempted murder, gun running, arson, assault, murder for hire, and organized crime. Some of these crimes would have had at least eight years old when you did them though."

"Yes, back then no one questioned having a teddy bear it was a great place to hide blades." The criminal said with fondness getting a horrified look from Fred.

"Well, since all you were trying to do with your abilities and skills was to take over a small portion of the area I don't see any reason that we can actually deny you representation." Gunn looked hopefully at the others. "Do any of you have any reason to deny Mr. Bane here our services?"

"Can't say that I can," Fred returned to him disappointedly. "I wouldn't mind getting a sample of your drug and examining it and seeing if it has any possible uses other than increasing muscle mass though."

"I will consider it." Bane said to her.

"Fine, all those who say that we represent Mr. Bane then?" Angel said and looked reluctant as he saw everyone raise their hands. He really hoped this didn't mean that they were going to have to go through all of this all over again. He would really like to turn some of this crowd away from the table.

"Well looks like we're in then." Gunn said. "The jury won't be nice to you, but we can use the fact that you were born and falsely imprisoned for your entire life for crimes that your father committed. That knife in your bear wasn't a murder weapon it was the only way to protect yourself." Gunn told the man. "A sob story like that will have them eating out of our hands in a matter of minutes. People will think South America is the lowest of the lows for allowing this to happen as well."

Bane laughed a bit at this. "Very devious my friend, I think that I will enjoy working with you for this case. And after all of this is done I shall return and deal with the Bat. Next time I will ensure that there is no way for him to rise from the grave as he did in our first encounter, next time I shall be the victor." The man swore to the group from Los Angeles.

"Yeah, yeah." Gunn returned.

"Guards," Angel called out, "come take your prisoner back to his cell." The men opened the door and were shocked to see the crime lord simply sitting there cool as can be. He climbed to his feet and flexed his muscles laughing a bit as the security personal flinched.

"Yet another mark against the good guys." Wesley said sadly as the man was led away.


	2. Mr Freeze

**rThe texaswookie looks up as a door opens and an armored figure stomps through the door. A red glow from where the eyes would be reflect off the little bit of light. "So, who are you?" The writer questions curiously eyeing the figure nervously having learned what this meant.**

**I am the person that comes to get a few words from you before you start up on this chapter of the story. The figure responding in a hollow echoing tone that was slightly unnerving. The figure finally stepped into the light and the writer notes that the figure is wearing some form of body armor that covers them a glass dome covers their head allowing a person to see the red tinted glasses on the bald head of the blue skinned super villain. The writer tries to move out of the way but the bulky gun that the man carries is activated and a stream of ice fires from the gun incasing the writer up to his knees in ice. Do you know how long it would take for a human to die with that much ice surrounding their body? The figure questioned idly. If you get help you might only lose the function of your legs. Of Course I could increase it to cover more of you. The figure said as he powered his gun up and blasted again this time bringing the ice up to his waist.**

**"What is your malfunction?" The writer questions, as he tries to move his legs, only to realize that the ice is an effective prison holding him in place without even the comforting sound of cracking. The writer uselessly pounds on the ice doing nothing more than hurting his hand against the unforgiving ice**

**"Now then, do you want to say those words or do you want to chance me adding another layer or do you want to say those words and allow me to free you? The armored man asked him.**

**"Fine, I'll do it." The writer complains shaking his hand painfully. "I the Texaswookie, do hereby renounce any claim whatsoever to the characters or places now that I think about it that are the property of D.C comics. I also renounce any claim of ownership to any of the Angel/Buffy characters whom are the property of Joss. There are you happy now?" The writer asked of the blue skinned man that had watched on emotionlessly as the writer spoke.**

**"I am satisfied." The figure responded to the writer with a nod of his head.**

**"So, do you think you could please get me out of this thing before frostbite sets in?" Texaswookie pleads of the high tech villain. I mean I did carry out my part of the deal. He pointed out to him.**

**"Very well," Freeze says as he walks forward and slams his fist into the ice freeing the figure.**

**"Remind me to stay far away from you." The writer says as he watches the arm of the villain in disbelief as he realized that he had not even felt it as he slammed his hand into the ice and that it hadn't even scratched his armor either. "Got to go now and you have to go get your chains on." The writer says as he runs out the door. **

* * *

Angel watched as Gunn handed out the next set of folder to each of the group. He looked at the names that had been placed on the folder. Fred let out an excited squeak. "Victor Fries, as in Dr. Victor Fries?" The woman asked in wonderment. "I remember reading up on some of his work when I was younger." The brunette's eyes glazed over in excitement that those who knew her were accustomed too.

Lorne smiled at the young woman. "Well Freddykins, since you already know who the guy is why don't you tell us just who it is that the guy is." The demon told the young woman the excitement that the woman felt over something as simple as seeing a name that she recognized was somewhat contagious and made them all forget for just a moment just exactly what kind of people it was that they were having to defend.

"Right," Fred returned to her friend with a smile and began telling them what she knew of the man off the top of her head. "He's Dr. Victor Fries, and is possibly the leading expert in cryogenic technologies, he's also a leader in the field of Molecular Biology, bringing many of the things that we now about cryogenics years ahead of what we thought that we would be at. He's written papers of all sorts on the matter and the last I really heard about him he was conducting medical research with several companies and was on the verge of several breakthroughs that would prove some of his latest theories and finally put him on the map. He's won several awards for his various breakthroughs in the medical field they say he might actually be the one to perfect the technology completely. Oddly enough though I don't think that he has written any papers in recent years I would have to look into it to be sure though." The scientist in the demon hunter looked somewhat eager at the idea of looking up this new avenue of research and finding out more about what the man may or may not have discovered in the recent years since she had last looked.

"What's cryogenics?" Angel finally asked curiously. He had never been overly interested in the medical and scientific world and as he was a vampire he never really had to worry as sooner or later anything and everything barring a lost limb was healable and made needing to know medical knowledge rather unneeded since he would just heal from whatever it was in a matter of time and blood. He could splint broken limbs, dig bullets out, treat arrow or bolt wounds, and sew cuts up but that was all that he could do. The few things that could affect him like the poisons that Faith had hit him with were all magical based and had magical based cures to all of them.

"Cryogenics is the science of freezing a live body for later treatment." Wesley informed the vampire. "The idea is that the person and the body can be preserved and saved at a later date when we actually know how to cure the person of whatever disease that they may have at the time. In theory the freezing should even stop a person from aging so that when they are cured they don't die the minute they leave the chamber."

Angel looked around the room for a moment. "You're serious aren't you?" He finally questioned in a slightly skeptic tone of voice to the Watcher who nodded his head in return. Angel shook his head at that and wondered how they thought these things up.

"If it helps you any, consider it somewhat like time travel or a suspended animation spell that puts you to sleep." Wesley informed the vampire who nodded his head in acceptance of the crazy idea and comparison.

"So what kind of crime did Dr. Fries get caught up in, did he take money for his research from someone he shouldn't have?" Fred asked curiously.

Gunn looked at the young woman almost sadly, confusing and worrying her. "Let me guess, all of the information that you have on the good Doc was from before you went and took your little jaunt into Pylea right?" He asked her knowingly. The woman nodded her head in confusion wondering where the man was going with his questions. "Victor Fries has had a bit of a job change since his days of working on that stuff." The lawyer explained as he began reading from his file. "He now gets his jollies out of freezing people now whether they need to be frozen or not." Everyone turned the page from a picture of the man in a lab coat to see an armored figure wielding a giant gun in both hands. "According to what we know he was involved in a lab accident after freezing his wife who was suffering some really odd disease. The man supplying money for the research a Mr. Ferris Boyle wanted to stop him and attempted to unfreeze her. They fought and Dr. Fries was somehow affected by some stuff there the results were interesting to say the least."

Gunn looked a bit uncomfortable and disturbed as he read ahead a bit but continued on with the briefing. "According to this the accident damaged his body in ways that are unknown. He is forced to stay in a refrigerated room or suit at all times or he'll die. He might be able to go about in someplace like the Arctic without needing his armor suit. The armored suit is actually a device of his own creation to allow him to move around as he needs to. The suit has been heavily modified over the years and allows him to have all sorts of other enhancements like super strength and what not. He's also created several weapons that use his cryogenic technology most of them are a type of freeze ray that incase people in blocks of ice. With this technology he's not done a whole lot of good. He prefers to use his technology for various crime sprees. He uses his technology to try and hold the city prison unless they pay him so much money or whatever. When that happens one of the vigilantes that swing around this area do something to stop or counteract whatever it is that he has got going. Most of his crimes seem to follow an ice theme though. When he's performing these crimes though he's not performing them as Dr. Fries instead he's doing the work under the name of Mr. Freeze, yet another of the Batman's Rogues gallery. The list of crimes that he's being charged for are misuse of company resources, attempted murder, multiple counts for attempted blackmail, attempted murder, destruction of property, and stealing anywhere from a small bank or private collector all the way up to stealing from the government and private collectors. His favorite precious gem happens to be diamonds as they look good in icy environments and are easier to slip by when packed with the tons of ice that he usually moves around."

"What's he using the money for?" Fred asked nervously as one of the men she had looked up to as a role model was revealed to be nothing more than a criminal freak.

"Originally he was using the money to fund his research into curing his wife." Gunn said as he looked his file over.

"See, then he hasn't completely lost it then." Fred said happily as she tried to find some good out of the mess.

"And what is he doing with the money now Gunn?" Wesley questioned having caught the play on words that the lawyer had used when describing the use of the ill gotten funds that the criminal managed to gather.

"Now a days he just uses his money to start something else, buy more equipment or whatever so that he can research or pay his men off. When he needs something really big he just steals it though. Most of his money seems to go into armor and weapons upgrades as he needs them. Since the heroes always manage to find counters to his guns or weakness in his armor he's always trying to make them better."

"I guess that we have to meet him then since he hasn't tried to end the world." Angel said tiredly.

"Yeah, from what I can tell the most he's done is try to freeze the city a few dozen times over." Gunn noted to the group.

"Have the guards turn down the temperature or whatever and we'll talk with him and see what there is that we can do for him." Angel finally told the others.

"Right-O Angel cakes, one chilled criminal scientist shaken up in the head." Lorne said as he began making the calls. A few moments later the group heard a stomping sound and watched as the doors opened to admit the armored figure that was Mr. Freeze.

"Dr. Fries." Fred greeted the man politely while the others just nodded their heads in greetings to the man. "We're the head members of Wolfram & Hart. I'm Winifred Burkle, head of the Science Division, over there is Mr. Wyndam-Pryce head of our Research Division, then there's Lorne the head of the Entertainment Division, Charles Gunn head of Legal Department and finally but certainly not least there's Angel the CEO of the entire operation at Wolfram & Hart America.

"Madame," the villain said respectfully as he looked the group over nodding to the various figures as they were introduced to him. He had been told he was going to be meeting the legal team that he wanted to hire and was glad that they were finally here. Joker had told them all about the entrance interview and that as long as they hadn't tried to destroy the world then there was a more than average chance that they could get representation. The group was actually rather young looking though he knew that sometimes that wasn't always the case.

"Dr. Fries, or would you prefer Mr. Freeze?" Gunn asked as he greeted the man with blue tinted skin.

"Either will work." The criminal returned to the man. "I rarely go by the Doctor anymore though it doesn't really apply to me as much as it used too. That part of my life is for the most part gone, and over with these day. You might say that I go by my professional name more often now than my real name."

"That's understandable." Gunn returned with an understanding smile as he returned to his seat. "You got a rep and an official name now and you got to stick with it. People that think otherwise don't understand what you had to do to get that name. You earned the name and it ain't right to ignore what it means to have that name."

"You do understand." Mr. Freeze said with a smile as he looked the man over with a new appreciation of him than what he had moments ago.

"Yes," Wesley said dryly, "your reputation can be quite important in your line of business Doctor."

"Let's get started on why we're here." Angel said before anyone else could say anything he didn't want anyone riled up over anything. "Now, you want us to represent you in court and deal with anything that you may or may not have done. Is this correct?"

"Indeed it is Mr. Angel." Mr. Freeze replied to Angel.

It's just Angel, no Mister." The vampire returned to the blue skinned man.

"Very well," He agreed easily enough. "Yes, I do need legal representative to help me out with all of the legal problems that I have managed to accumulate since the accident that made me what I am today." The arctic criminal admitted.

"Gunn, if you'll read off on the various crimes that Mr. Freeze here is being charged with." Angel told his friend who nodded as he picked up the file on the man.

"Well, according to this he's being charged for are misuse of company resources, attempted murder, multiple counts for attempted blackmail, attempted murder, destruction of property, stealing anywhere from a small bank or private collector all the way up to stealing from the government and private collectors, and a few weapon laws violations with his experimental weapons." Gunn told the others as he looked at the list again.

"Yes I have no need or want to destroy the world, I merely want the power and to acquire that power and technology to help myself I must do things that I am not proud of." Mr. Freeze explained to the group.

"So you haven't tried too or planned to destroy the world or anything like that then?" Angel tried to clarify for the entire group hoping that he would slip up and admit to trying to destroy the world or something.

"Of course not, I am not one of Superman's villains after all. I happen to have a method to my madness you might say." Freeze replied haughtily looking somewhat insulted that someone would have to even ask him a question like that.

"And that is probably the most disturbing way he could have put it." Wesley commented from where he was sitting.

"Well I'm glad that you haven't gone completely bad Dr. Fries." Fred cheered from where she was sitting causing the man to let a small smile of amusement to tug at the corner of his lips.

It had been a long time since someone had believed in him to find one such person sitting across from him was a relief."Thank you for your vote of confidence." Mr. Freeze told the young woman.

"Lorne?" Angel asked the demon who was busy massaging his head. The demon seemed to be suffering somewhat ever since they had entered the town it was like the destinies of everyone was giving him headaches he hadn't even had anyone sing for him.

"While I would love to have everyone here locked up Angel cakes. No offense meant." He told Mr. Freeze who shrugged unconcerned about the demon or his beliefs. "This guy hasn't done anything that would make us throw the key away when dealing with him though. So I guess that I vote that we protect his sorry self. That is what you want right Blue Belle?" The green skinned demon questioned of Mr. Freeze who nodded his head in agreement. "Then I say that we go ahead and do it to it.

"You know I'm all for representing him." Eve said from her seat where she had been placed.

"Eve, you're supposed to keep quiet as in not make any sounds." Angel returned to her. You're here to be the eyes and ears of Wolfram and Hart not to make a choice on your own."

"But that's no fun." The woman said with a bit of a pout that she aimed at the vampire who ignored it. Eve simply had nothing when you compared her pout to the pouts of Buffy, Cordy, and Fred. "Oh yeah, I hope when you're negotiating that you get us some of the early designs for some of his weapons and armor. Those things could be useful to us at some point you never know when you may need it to fight a dragon or something like." She said with a smirk.

"I can accept those terms of payment." Mr. Freeze commented, wanting to get the group back on track in dealing with his case.

Angel looked at the woman oddly. "I really doubt that we'll ever be fighting dragons." Angel told the woman.

"It would be good technology to have though." Fred pointed out.

Angel merely shook his head at the woman. "Fine, Wes?"

"I can't find a reason not to." The former Watcher admitted to them.

"How about you Gunn?" Angel asked.

"I'm in, besides he'll be a lot easier to deal with than the clown anyways. We can use his condition to ask about possible reactions to his mental state we can also use the fact that he was desperate to save his wife at the time and that it was the actions of his former employer that set everything off as it is now. The fact that she is now up and walking around thanks to some other experimental procedures could actually justify that one and get most of the court to lean our way. He might not get out of prison but his time shouldn't be too bad either." Gunn said as he began telling them of ways that he could weaken the prosecution on their case.

"Alright," Angel said before turning to the criminal and letting his eyes flash golden. "It looks like we have decided to work with you. Make no mistake though, if you try and destroy the world or even try and create an Ice Age that would destroy everything we'll bury you so deep that you'll be hitting lava." Angel promised him with a small growl in his voice.

Mr. Freeze was unimpressed with the display having seen much more intimidating by the Batman. He had to admit though that the threat was somewhat impressive as it might be just enough to surely kill him. "I'll remember what you said."

"Good." Angel said flatly as his eyes returned to normal.

The others ignored Angel and his display of power as they summoned the guards who took their newest client away so that they could continue their interviews.


	3. Ra's al Ghul

**The texaswookie looks nervous as he sees the sword that is being expertly wielded by Ra's al Ghul. "You know what you need to say." The man said in a cultured voice. "I have no feeling whatsoever in ending your life so you can either say it or I can kill you now." He said as he flashed his blade at the writer.**

**"Why do I always do this to myself and why did I decide to do this with a bunch of Gotham city psychos?" The writer questions himself as he dodges the swinging blade. "Right, I the texaswookie lay no claim whatsoever to the BTVS/Angel characters since they're the property of Joss naturally and the comic book characters in this chapter heck in this whole fic belong to D.C comics.**

**"Very well, I suppose that for now I shall not have to kill you now." Ra's al Ghul said as he eyed the writer over. "Forget though, and I may just have to come back for you and complete the job that I started."**

**"Right you got it." The writer returns watching the Immortal Demon Head walk away his cloak billowing in an unfelt breeze.**

* * *

Angel glared at the stack of files as Gunn pulled the next set off and began passing them around to the group. The former street kid even reluctantly handed one to Eve. "Why are you even still here?" Angel snapped at her in irritation.

"Well its either hang out here with you guys, or I can go and find something fun in Gotham to do." The women returned at him with a smirk.

Angel glared at her in return, he really didn't want to consider some of the things that the woman could get into in this city without one of them watching. "I could just knock you out or have the people here throw you into a cell for a while too." He offered with a straight face even as he thought that there might be some merit behind the threat.

The woman snapped her mouth shut before the vampire had any other ideas. She really didn't need him thinking like that. Her job was to observe and make sure that the group didn't destroy any of the links to this city. Every bit of power they gained here was too good for them to pass up. For years they had been barred from this city and she was not about to let them be stopped now. All of the work of the heroes and that Emerald Knight would be in vain as they would claim a spot here. Enough clients and they would open another branch office here. While it wasn't L.A the city did have a kind of homey hellish feel that any number of demons would feel comfortable with. Sure this city had a new knight one that worked from the shadows and all that but he would be easy enough to control. Angel had once been a thorn in their side and he now worked for them it was merely a matter of finding out what the Dark Knight's price was and then they would have both of the brooding champions under their command.

"So who is our next potential client?" Wesley questioned curiously hoping that it wasn't another scientist. He wasn't sure that he could deal with having another role model of Fred's being the one that they had to defend. Despite everything that she had seen and done their was still a bit of innocence to her that he would like her to keep.

Lorne nodded his head in agreement as he read the name from his folder. "Ra's al Ghul is the name." The demon did a double take and looked again while Eve's eyes got big and Angel jerked his head up in surprise at the name.

Wesley spat his tea out of his mouth and looked his own folder over to confirm the name that the demon had just read off to them. He turned and leveled a glare at Gunn and Eve. "I don't believe it. You want us to defend the Demon's Head? Do you really think it's wise to even consider this Angel? I mean the man is beyond dangerous. He's more of a monster than most of the creatures I've heard of, has a kill count higher than most real demons, and that's with most of his plans being stopped before they came to a full."

"I know who and what he is Wesley." Angel growled back at him. "However, we do still have to listen to what the list says we can all cast our votes at the end." The vampire reminded him with a glare causing him to settle down a bit.

"But…" Wesley complained only to be cut off with a shake of the head from Angel.

"So, who is this guy that has Wes here looking like he's ready to go on the war path and even has our little snake in the grass impressed?" Gunn question the others as he looked at the picture of the Middle Eastern man. "He one of Bin Laden's friends or something like that?" He asked since it took a lot to get under Wesley skin.

"More likely Bin Laden is one of his people or is supplied by him to do the work that he wants done." Wesley returned to the lawyer. "Ra's al Ghul could even have supplied him with intelligence training or target lists."

"I'll tell them Wesley." Angel said before the man could go on a tirade about whom, and what the man was. "He's the head of the League of Assassins which is probably the human equivalent to the Order of Taraka, and is approximately 600 years old. He wants to bring peace to Earth or at least he says he does."

"That doesn't seem too bad then." Gunn said shrugging the worries of the others off as overreacting. "Sure doing the assassin bit doesn't really seem to go with his goals but are we really ones to judge on the methods like that?"

"What Angel has yet to mention is some of the methods that he uses to get his objectives though." Wesley informed the others. "He is of the belief that the best way to lead the masses is to cut their numbers down to a more manageable size so that they can be more easily led into doing what he wants them to do. I read all about him during my time at the Watcher Academy. In fact, as I recall he was one of the people that helped set up a number of the Death Camps that Hitler used throughout Europe."

"So we have the joy of representing a 600 year old Nazi then?" Fred questioned with disgust on her face.

"Maybe you should hear him out before you judge him." Eve suggested to the others in defense of the man. "I mean he's done some really great work for humanity in the past as well."

"And the fact that you admire him and his work shouldn't make us worried about him why?" Lorne questioned the woman curiously as he looked her over in disbelief.

The woman opened her mouth to respond but shrugged as she realized nothing else she said would really matter and that she was more likely to convince them to do the exact opposite than it was to convince them that they needed the person. Her duty here as Devil's Advocate would only give her so much leeway before they did toss her into a cell. So what else is there to know about him she questioned them hoping that there would be something there that they could use to paint him in a better light than the one he currently had. "Can I plead the fifth on that one?" She questioned with a smile. Getting annoyed glares shot at her in return.

"Well his charges ain't nice that's for sure." Gunn said returning to the case as he checked that part of the file. "He's another one of the Batman's supposed victims though. He's being charged for organized crime, drug smuggling, terrorism, war crimes because of his Nazi past, multiple counts of murder, multiple counts of murder for hire, voluntary man slaughter, medical experimentation, multiple counts of weapons smuggling, multiple counts of using a false identification, multiple counts of aiding and abetting various criminals, multiple counts of withholding information from courts of law, multiple counts of evading and resisting arrest, multiple counts of tax fraud, multiple counts of stealing, a few counts of breaking the nuclear arms treaty, multiple counts of identity theft, and multiple counts of arms dealing. All of these crimes are on the international level as well." The man added.

"Well he's consistent in his crimes at least." Lorne noted to the others with a grim tone the usually light hearted demon finding little to be happy about as he listened to what it was that the man they were talking about had done.

"Show him in, and we'll talk with him just like we do with everyone else." Angel told the others. "No arguments from any of you." The vampire told them as he watched them open their mouths in protest. "I want you to all keep an open mind though while we are interviewing him though. I don't want us to be the judges here. That's not the job that we gave ourselves when we took over Wolfram & Hart." He reminded them.

The others nodded as the doors opened and allowed the man to enter he was dressed in a green suit that looked like it might have come from the 1800's. Over that he wore a dark green cloak, and an empty sword belt was strapped around his waist. He had dark brown hair with side burns that had been cut to join his mustache. The man had a commanding presence that seemed to make you want to sit up and pay attention to whatever it was that the man was doing. "Angelus," The man said in greeting causing the others to turn to look at the vampire in surprise.

"What?" Angel asked as they all looked at him in disbelief and betrayal. "He's three times my age, and you're all really that surprised that we've run into each other before? Little fact guys, unless we're actively trying to avoid each other Immortal being have a bad habit of running into each other. He, Darla, and the Master were all old friends from way back when." The vampire informed them.

"Yes, I met the Master in my first hundred years of life. He in turn introduced me to his favorite childe Darla and 200 years later she introduced me to Angelus here." Ra's said with a nod toward the dark haired vampire. "In return I allowed Angelus to be there for the birth of my daughter Talia. The others were busy with other things and I wanted someone from his clan there. I must admit I always figured when next we met you would be introducing me to the one known as Drusilla or Spike and continue the tradition that your sire and grand sire started up with me so long ago."

"I have no idea where Dru is at the moment and last I heard Spike was dead." Angel returned to the man. "Besides, I don't have a whole lot of respect for the traditions. I thought that you would remember that about me."

"You are different." Ra's noted as he studied the vampire that was seated across from him. "In a way you remind me of the Detective, complete with your own band of followers as well." The man said as he looked at the people that surrounded Angel. "While they are not children there are enough similarities to make it an interesting comparrison."

"Who?" Fred asked curious of whom he could mean. The way that he said the name it was a mixture of anger and respect. Anyone that could get the respect of an Immortal like this was someone that they should be careful of.

"I am sorry my dear but who are you." Ra's asked her turning to study her for the moment.

"That's Fred Burkle, over there is Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, Charles Gunn is the guy in the fancy suit and Lorne is the one hiding from you." Angel said cutting the scientist off before she could get caught up in whatever the man had planned. "Be careful with him guys, he may not have any special abilities other than his Immortality but Ra's is easily one of the most dangerous people here." Angel warned them as he eyed the man carefully. I would easily put him on the same danger level as the Joker only his is a more rational method than the madness of the clown."

Ra's laughed at the over protective vampire. "You have changed Angelus, I thought that the rumors I had been hearing about you were just that rumors but I see that there may be more truth to them than I originally thought."

"Maybe." Angel said neutrally as the two exchanged looks with each other neither giving anything up to the other.

"Ah if only you were capable of impregnating women Angelus I think my daughter would enjoy you and your company just as much as she does that of the detective." Ra's told him.

"I take it Talia has a bad boy thing then?" Angel questioned him.

"More like she is interested in men who have a mission bigger than they are, and feels a kinship with that mission. She is of course still loyal to me though and has often tried to get the Detective to join me in my mission. I have my doubts about her ever accomplishing the task but I allow it until I can find another suitable champion." Ra's explained to the vampire. "Too answer your question my dear Fred. The Detective I was referring to was one that the world at large refers to as the Batman. You have heard of him yes?"

"We've heard rumors, but there has been no real evidence about his existence." Wesley informed the man. "He could be some type of fear demon, or he could in fact be something else."

"The detective is not of your world Watcher; he is of the world of man. Despite the clothing he chooses to garb himself in he is not of the darkness and shadows you are a part of. He is a part of the darkness and shadows of man. The evil you fight is simple enough to battle the evil that he battles against though has many more dangers to it. He doesn't have the luxury of humans good demons evil in his never ending battle for the city. I know him well as I have studied him for some time learning him and I know for a fact that he is nothing except one of the most gifted humans to ever grace the world. He is like the detective Sherlock Holmes combined with Zorro mixed in with some of the American action film stars." Ra's told them as he tried to explain the Batman to the group. "He has put himself on a worthy goal and it has been an honor to cross both physical and mental blades with him time and time again. He is the only worthy foe that I have ever had."

"Which makes one wonder if you are not Moriarty, and the corrupt Governor." Wesley coolly returned to the man.

"Uh, huh." Gunn said to the man. "So do the rest of you want to get onto the list of crimes that he's been accused of or do we want to continue with talking about how we knew each other at one time or another and want to catch up on the rest of the gossip?"

"This one has not yet learned the need to curb his impatience as you have Angelus." Ra's noted from where he was watching the black man. "When you have lived as long as we have you learn that there is always time to catch up with old friends and allies."

"Forget the games Ra's, let's get down to business." Angel returned to him. "Go ahead Gunn, read the list off to him so that we can make our call."

Gunn nodded as he raised the papers so that he could begin reading the list of crimes off once again. "Ra's Al Ghul you are being charged with organized crime, drug smuggling, terrorism, war crimes because of his Nazi past, multiple counts of murder, multiple counts of murder for hire, voluntary man slaughter, medical experimentation, multiple counts of weapons smuggling, multiple counts of using a false identification, multiple counts of aiding and abetting various criminals, multiple counts of withholding information from courts of law, multiple counts of evading and resisting arrest, multiple counts of tax fraud, multiple counts of stealing, a few counts of breaking the nuclear arms treaty, multiple counts of identity theft, and multiple counts of arms dealing."

"You've been busy." Angel noted to the man. "You want to tell me why you're so intent on destroying the world anyways?"

"Yes I have been busy." Ra's returned to him. "I do what I feel is the best for all of man-kind Angelus. The population is simply too much to be suitably controlled, a smaller population would allow us to direct it in the ways that it needs to go." The old man's eyes shone with a light that no one else really liked. "Is there anything else you need to know? I already have deduced that you won't take me on as a client only one of you has any interest in me and they appear the one that matters the least in the room." He said nodding toward where Eve was sitting in her chair.

"If you already knew then why did you allow for this interview to continue?" Wesley questioned him, not liking being played around with.

"Oh that one is a simple one there Wes." Lorne told the former watcher with a sad smile. "He wanted to see what the new Angel-Cakes here is like and he didn't know for sure the kind of reaction he would get from us until he entered the room. Thing is the man was able to size the room up and figure everyone out for the most part the moment he entered the room.

"Indeed I did." Ra's admitted to the others. "Did you not wonder how I knew that you were once a Watcher?" He asked Wesley curiously causing the man to looked a bit startled the man was so used to having his old profession thrown in his face by demons and co worker that he had not realized he had not mentioned his old profession to the Demon's Head. Ra's al Ghul ignored the man as he focused instead his attention back on the green skinned demon. "I see your reputation as the Host is well earned since you were able to read me just as well as I read the room as a whole."

"Yeah, but you do it without any special powers." Lorne complimented the man. "That's something that can't be copied. You either got it or you don't got it with your gift." Lorne returned to the man knowingly.

"I guess we don't need to vote then." Angel said as he looked the man over. "It was interesting to see you again Ra's al Ghul." The vampire told the Immortal.

"And a pleasure to see you as well Angelus." The Demon's Head said bowing his head in respect towards the vampire. "It is a shame that we are now on opposite sides but it was still a pleasure to see you again."

Angel looked the man in the eyes. "It's just Angel now." He explained to him.

Ra's al Ghul paused for a moment as he considered the name change before he nodded his head in acceptance of the name.."Very well then Angel. I think I shall have to add your name alongside of the Detective's as one that I shall have to be wary of as there is no real way of telling just what way you will go from here on out." The man rose from his chair bowing to the entire team ignoring Eve before he walked out of the room not allowing his face to betray any emotion over being denied.

"That is one cool dude." Gunn said shaking his head in disbelief as he tossed the man's file down. "He knew what we were going to do yet he still sat there cool as can be and talked about the good old days despite it all."

"Yes and he will probably be around another few hundred years after you and I are gone still killing all sorts of people because they are in the way of his master plans." Wesley reminded his companion.

"Hey lets ignore the depressing part for the moment and focus on the good side." Lorne told the two men as he began passing out coffee cups with shots of whisky in them. Selection's not quiet what we're used to but it'll have to do. The demon said.

And what is it that we're celebrating Lorne?" Wesley questioned the demon.

"Simple my friend, we got to tell yet another person no." The demon told the man with a grin as he raised his mug.

"He's got a point there." Gunn told Wesley with a grin that spread to the rest of the group as they basked in the feeling of doing some good. Each member of team Angel then raised their cups in celebration. The only one not smiling was Eve who was busy pouting.

Angel decided against mentioning to the group that with or without them Ra's al Ghul would probably be out of jail in a few months and be back to going about his mission despite everything that they had done today. Ra's was a clever man and had most likely just been feeling them out and seeing what there was about them. They were just one of many ways for him to get out and with this way closed he would merely find another way to use.


	4. Penguin

The door opens and the writer groans as he has some idea as to what is about to come through the door. The light glinting off f his monocle the Penguin enters the room and gives a false smile in greeting to the texaswookie. "Good day my dear writer." The Penguin greets with a fake cheer. "I am sure that you know why I'm here. You either give me a cut of the profit your making from writing about me or you admit to not owning the rights."

"So I'm getting blackmailed by a comic book character now?" The writer questions in disbelief.

"Would you rather I got my point across differently?" Penguin asks as he lets a blade pop out of the top of his umbrella.

"Um no, not really." The writer admits taking several steps back from the Penguin. "I think I can say it just fine now. I the texaswookie lay no claim on the characters as they belong to D.C comics or Joss Whedon. Will that work?"

"I suppose it will have to." The Penguin admits to the writer as he allows the blade to retract to its hiding place in his umbrella. "Now, I must go and prepare myself for my performance." The man says as he waddles out of the room.

"Yeah you do that." The writer says.

* * *

The group was almost scared to see what kind of person that they would have to deal with next when you considered some of the odd people that they had dealt with. Gotham city seemed to have a whole new type of odd and crazy. Lorne looked at the others before he reached for the file that was sitting in front of him wondering how odd this one was going to be. "Well my friends let's see just what kind of nightmare it is that we're dealing with this time." The anagogic demon said to them as they all opened their files. "Hmm this guy sure does like to look nice for his photos." The Host said as he looked at the picture of a middle aged man with a large beak like nose wearing a tuxedo, monocle, silk top hat, and an umbrella clenched in his fist. The almost regal way that the man was posing made it hard to believe that he was doing the photo for police records. The hardened glare that he was sending toward the camera was the only way a person could tell what kind of photo that it really was.

"So what do we have on this guy?" Angel asked as he looked the man over.

"Well our boy in the monkey suit likes to go by the name of the Penguin if you can believe it." Gunn told the vampire.

"Really?" Angel questioned him.

Really," Gunn returned.

"Huh?" The vampire said as he examined the picture again.

Gunn then began telling the others a basic history on the man so that they knew what to expect from him."According to this he's something of a crime lord. He used to be one of the ones to pull the crimes, but it seems that the risk got to be too much for him and he switched to outsourcing the work. Its also more profitable for him to do business in the less violent manner as well. He also spent a lot of time going in and out of here, Blackgate prison, and breaking out of whatever prison he's in that month. He seems to have made a hobby of doing that particular trick from what I've gathered on him."

"Very interesting, what else can you tell us about him does he have a real name or is he like the Joker and has had his identity so well hidden that no can find him anymore?" Lorne asked curiously.

"No, his real name is here actually **Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot**." Gunn explained to the demon.

"I suppose we can see why the guy would prefer to be called Penguin, with a name like that." Wesley said dryly.

"So says Mr. **Wesley** Wyndam-Pryce." Gunn returned in a mock snobbish voice to his companion getting an annoyed glare in return. "Anyways, our boy here is more of the behind the scenes kind of guy now. He grew up in the rich neighborhood and probably thought that the only way to keep on living in the way that his momma had him used to was turning to crime. He's the guy that hooks people up or sells hot and stolen goods. A bit of a change from his days of committing the crimes, though he does do that from time to time to. I think it ddoes that more for the fun or the rush than any other real reason though. Usually uses a bird theme when he's committing his crimes though. Has a reputation as an informant for the mysterious Batman as well. Most of his wheeling and dealings happen at a Club of his that he owns. Seems that people get off on going to a Club that talks all about what a criminal that he used to be. They even sell autographs and memorabilia for having gone there."

"Sounds like a place that I might fit into." Lorne said with an eager smile on his face. "Do we happen to have the name of his club? I might want to check it out if for no other reason than to see what kind of club that he managed to put together." Lorne looked thoughtful as if he was already planning what songs he would try and sing if he found the place.

"Yeah sure man. The place goes along with his whole Penguin background though. It's called the Iceberg Lounge. It's one of those more upper class places though it does serve to anyone willing to pay and has a reputation for being one of the places to go if you want something in Gotham." Gunn explained to him.

"So what is he being charged with anyways?" Fred asked the others curiously.

"Our boy is being charged with murder, assault, resisting arrest, breaking out of jail, carrying a deadly weapon, carrying a deadly weapon with intent to harm, stealing from just about anyone and everyone, dealing with known felons, kidnapping, speeding, not having permits for various wild animals, endangering endangered animals, mistreatment of animals, attempted murder, and using experimental weaponry without any kind of permits. " Gunn said as he read off the list. "How come we haven't found anyone with only a small list of minor crimes its always big stuff." He grumbled to the others.

"The really odd part is that his weapons were all concealed in his umbrella of all things." Fred told the others allowing them to focus back on the case. "If you'll turn the page you'll see some of the umbrellas that he used in the past." They all turned to look at the collection of purple umbrellas. "His favorite ones are the helicopter umbrella which acts as a slicing device and instant get away, the sword umbrella which has a blade that extends out of the top of it, the machine gun umbrella which fires several rounds off, and finally there's the gas umbrella which shoots variety of gases from the tip he usually uses a type of knockout gas though and waves it in front of his enemies face. There are several other types like flame throwers and what not but those three are the ones that he uses the most."

"A somewhat odd use for umbrella but he does seem to make it work." Wesley noted to the others clinically.

"Well one thing you got to say about these Gotham folks they really know how to keep folks like us in business." Eve said amusedly as she listened to the list of crimes without seeming to be overly bothered. "Kind of makes you wonder what it is about this city that attracts so many interesting characters like this."

"Yeah, they're so considerate." Angel grumbled to the young woman. "Alright let's deal with this guy and see if we can't add him to the list of dropped potential clients." He said too the others hopefully. "Show the guy in and let's get this over with already." He ordered, getting nods from the others as they went through the required motions to get the next person before them.

"Just remember, he's probably the world's leading ornithologist." Eve reminded all of them. "He probably has a lot o teach the world."

"He's a what?" Gunn questioned in confusion.

"Ornithology is the study of birds my dear friend." A rough sounding voice from smoking too much with a slight cultural accent responded to the question that Gunn had asked them. They all turned to see that Mr. Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot was standing there before them. The man was on the short side and had on the tuxedo that he had been wearing in the photo a large top hat and his monocle in his hand he was leaning on umbrella as he surveyed the group.

"Ah Mr. Cobblepot." Wesley greeted the man with a false pleasantness in his voice. "It's a pleasure to meet you. "The man said offering his hand to the other man.

"A pleasure that I must admit too as well." The man returned to him formally. "Please I would prefer my **nom** de guerre of the Penguin though. I feel that if we are going to be discussing things that I did under that particular alias that it would be better for all concerned if I used that particular name then."

"Of course." Eve said with a smile. We all understand wanting to associate yourself with a name for certain works don't we Mr. Angel?"

Angel glared at the woman who was rubbing the whole Angel/Angelus thing in his face. He could deny her or accept it and move on. "Of course we do sir," he said in annoyance. "I'm Angel, the C.E.O of the L.A branch of Wolfram & Hart. Over there is Fred my scientific advisor, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce my head or research, Charles Gunn head of legal teams, Lorne head of Entertainment, and Eve a link to the Senior partners you might say." Angel said with a sneer as he glared at the woman.

"Indeed." Penguin said as he nodded to the men and kissed the women on the hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you all. I must admit that I had my doubts as I thought that there was a more than passing chance that the rumor of you and your skills were nothing more than one of the Joker's ideas of a poor prank."

"Yes, well we happen to actually be all too real." Wesley returned to the man. "We have the mixed cursing and blessing of defending the darker element of the law."

"Yes a task that must prove to be most frustrating. Might I suggest that you try to do more thorough looks into the backgrounds of your people." The Penguin said to him with a smile.

"We do have to give everyone a chance including the criminals that use themed crime in their jobs despite their lack of originality." Wesley returned to the man.

The others watched as the two upper class born men made their small talk while giving subtle insults at each other. "Say how long do you think that this going to go on man?" Gunn hiss out at Angel.

Angel answered the question by fitting each of the men with a glare. "Enough," he ordered in a voice that seemed to echo around the room. "I don't need or want to hear you guys go at it. I wouldn't mind knowing why the two of you feel the need to go at each other like you are." He added while fixing them both with a stare that demanded answers.

"Why Wesley you didn't tell them? I must say I am shocked and disappointed." Penguin told the former Watcher that was glaring daggers and deadly magical spells at him. "The Cobblepot family has done quite a bit of dealing with Wesley's family. I remember my mother and Wesley's father Roger having all sorts of meetings behind closed doors. Meetings that I later learned were to launder money or see to it that something happened. It was something that had been going on for years. The Cobblepots were the face for this Council whatever that was, money and the Wyndam-Pryce family was our contact. That was the way it worked for generations, our two families would come together a few times a year and do business. That wasn't good enough for straight laced Wesley though. No he had to mess generations of business up by finding all sorts of information on the family that was not good. He publicly humiliated my mother."

"Wes?" Angel asked curiously. "Did you do all that?" The vampire remembered the Wesley of old and figured that there was a chance he could have done it if he was anything like the Wesley that had entered Sunnydale in Buffy's senior year.

"Yes it's true," the former Watcher admitted. "I allowed my love for the rules overcome my common sense. With my love and dedication of rules I allowed things to happen that shouldn't have. The family lost a few points and I was regulated to official training methods only after that. The Council didn't want to make any more enemies from my poor work ethic."

"And now look at you straight arrow Wesley, working as one of the senior members of the most crooked law firm in the world." Penguin sneered back at him. "I think I rather enjoy the irony of the situation."

"As much as I find the irony of having to help defend you?" Wesley shot back with a smirk.

"Enough," Angel growled out causing both men to back down. "Gunn what are they throwing at the Penguin?"

"Darn and here I was enjoying the show." Eve complained. "It would have been a lot better with popcorn though."

"Lorne anything to add?" Angel asked knowing that highly charged emotions sometimes allowed his friend to get a better reading off of his subjects.

"Not really, other than to ask him not to point the umbrella at Wesley." The demon said. "I would rather his shiv not hit our boy." Penguin looked frustrated but the deadly glares that the group sent him made him nod his head in reluctant agreement.

"Good, Gunn the list." Angel commanded of the lawyer.

Gunn nodded and read off the list of crimes. "Penguin here is being charged with murder, assault, resisting arrest, breaking out of jail, carrying a deadly weapon, carrying a deadly weapon with intent to harm, stealing from just about anyone and everyone, dealing with known felons, kidnapping, speeding, not having permits for various wild animals, endangering endangered animals, mistreatment of animals, attempted murder, and using experimental weaponry without any kind of permits."

"Having trouble going straight?" Wesley questioned innocently.

"Something that your family got us started on I might remind you." Penguin growled back at him with a sneer.

"Alright everyone despite our personal feelings for the man, can we realistically work his case without breaking any of our rules?" Angel asked them looking them all up and down.

"I vote no," Wesley said crossing his arms over his chest. "The only reason that he hasn't tried to end the world is that there wouldn't be anyone to brag to about how wonderful he is or to buy things from to show how high in society he has risen."

"Gunn?" Angel said after nodding his head to the Watcher.

"Everything here says he's a crime boss not a planet killer like some of the others." Gunn said looking a bit apologetic. "I'm going to have to say we represent him."

"Lorne?"

"Well considering some of the scumbags we represent this boy should fit right in." Lorne told them. "I don't suppose I could get on the list for your club?" He asked of the Penguin hopefully.

"Of course I'll allow you all to be on the list." Penguin replied to the demon. "Rumor has it that your quiet the singer Mr. Lorne, perhaps you can join my men for a few songs."

"It would be my pleasure." Lorne said with a smile.

"Fred?" The vampire looked at her apologetically at making her vote but knew that it had to be done.

"We represent him." Fred returned, doing her best not to look at Wesley.

"You know that I want to represent him." Eve said from her seat.

"Your vote still doesn't matter." The vampire returned to her. "Sorry Wes, you lose." Angel told his friend who nodded his head in disappointment.

"Very well Angel, I know you were just doing what you thought was right." The British man said in return.

"Well my friends, I suppose I should go now." Penguin said from where he was. He gave handshakes to all of the men there was a brief contest of strength between him and Wesley before he turned to the women and kissed them on their hands before taking his leave of his lawyers.

Eve grimaced as she wiped her hand off. "It would take magic to make me find him attractive." The woman said in disgust.

"Oh do shut the bloody hell up." Wesley returned from his seat.


	5. Poison Ivy

_"Here we go again." The writer complains finding himself being held prisoner by several vines while what looks like some form of giant Venus fly trap is chomping its jaws at him as if he's the next meal it's going to eat. With his luck with characters he knows that it's a fairly good chance to._

_"You know how it is." Poison Ivy responds to the writer. "You say the disclaimer you go free. If you don't say it then I get to use you to feed my baby." The woman said with a smile as she petted her creation._

_"Fine I the texasswookie have no owner ship claims to the characters used. Can you please let me go now preferably away from the giant monster though if you please."_

_"Of course," The woman said as the vines released him. _

* * *

"And the next contestant to our lovely and dangerous game of I'm getting away with murder thanks to Wolfram and Hart is who?" Lorne questioned the others as he looked at the pile of files that held the next name on the list ignoring the annoyed looks that the others were sending his way at the bad jokes that described their situation.

"Pamela Lillian Isley." Wesley returned to the demon stoically. She's without a doubt one of the most knowledgeable people in the world and possibly several dimensions on the subject matter of botany, which is the study of plant life." He elaborated for the ones who looked a bit confused at that. "Despite the fact that she actually lacks the credentials for anything official, she is more knowledgeable than anyone that is known of in her field of choice." The watcher informed the rest of the group. "She's also one if not the most dangerous and powerful eco terrorists in the world. She has somehow gained immunity to any and all known poisons due to experimentation that was used on her by the doctors that she studied under. The experimentation also left her with a psychic link to plants, which allows her to communicate back and forth with a large variety of back and forth communication. This communication is so great that she can actually control the plants to a certain degree including speeding their growth or using vines and roots as a variety of weapons or chains. She can also feel when the plants suffer cuts and are broken."

"She can talk to plants?" Fred asked incuriously. "Does that seem a bit weird to anybody else?" The Texan asked the others. "I mean plants they can't be that good of conservationist, my momma talked to her garden sure but she never expected them to talk back unless you count the food that they provided."

"First you find a plant to talk to you and find out what kind of conservationists they are." Gunn joked. "Who knows, you may find that what they have to say is more interesting than what we talk about and all you'll want to do is talk with them."

"Somehow I doubt that." Fred returned with a smile.

"Anyways; getting back on the task at hand." Angel interrupted the two knowing from experience that they could carry this type of conversation on for a long time before they would finally quit. "What else is there to know about her Wes?"

"Well according to her files she is possibly a hybrid of human and plant." Wesley continued as he looked his files over. "The experimentation that she was the test subject for earlier on in her life has mutated her DNA into something that is unknown. The best way to describe her would be to classify her as an earth or plant elemental with an unknown range and growth potential. Her files put her in the top class of some of the beings on the planet. Not the most powerful, but with a power that could easily destroy large sections of the world if we were to give her enough time to work."

"Does she have any other abilities that could make her dangerous to people?" Angel questioned not sure that a person with a reputation like hers would be limited by just those abilities. His gut told him that there was more to her than that.

"What, you're thinking that she doesn't have enough as it is?" Lorne asked the vampire in disbelief. "I know that you like a challenge and all but this isn't someone that you have to fight Angel Cakes. Someone else has already gone and done that part of the job." He reminded the vampire. I mean she's part plant, immune to poison, and has a psychic link to plants. What more do you think that she can do, or should be able to do?"

"She actually does has one or two more abilities that make her dangerous." Wesley cut in before the demon could say anything else. "She's an expert poison brewer, using her knowledge of plants and their various toxins. Her lips also happen to carry a poison as well then there is her other documented ability."

"And that ability would be what?" Angel questioned wondering if the Watcher had saved the worst for last.

"She has the ability to manipulate her pheromones to a level that is unheard of in nearly any species human or demon making most people into her helpless servants. Only some of the strongest willed individuals have a chance of withstanding what she does to a person." Wesley explained to the others looking troubled at the thought of a woman with that kind of ability. "The amount of havoc that she's able to cause must be immense." He said to the others as he considered what a person could do with that sort of ability.

"That's tied into her mutated DNA though right?" Angel questioned his friend. "I mean plants do have the ability to manipulate their pheromones as well couldn't it be on the same level as that or something similar? What I had to help Buffy sometimes with her homework." The vampire defended at the looks that the others were sending him.

"Yes, and it most likely is the reason still it makes her extremely dangerous as she can basically sweet talk you into doing just about anything." Wesley informed them.

"It sounds like she has great potential for becoming a lawyer for us." Eve said with a smile and a hungry look in her eyes. "Can you imagine someone with the ability manipulate an entire courtroom like that? Not even lie detector Murdock would be able to compete with something like that. Hell she might even be able to convince him to come and work for us."

"We're not recruiting her." Angel told the woman with a final tone in his voice before he turned to the real members of his team. "Gunn, what are the crimes that she's being charged with anyways?"

The black man opened his own file. Pamela Lillian Isley better known to the world at large as the Gotham city super villain and Eco-terrorist Poison Ivy, is the most feared of her kind around. She's attacked all sorts of corporations for various reasons everything from an old tree to the rare flower that only grows in certain areas. She's destroyed so much private and government property it's not even funny, she's endangered human lives, she's fed people to various plants, she's strangled people with plants, she's poisoned people with plant compounds, she's robbed banks, jewelry stores, the usual mess to raise funds for the various jobs that she does to further her work, and of course there's the typical blackmail. Of course like everyone else she's supposed to have been taken out by the big bad Batman." Gunn quipped to the others with a grin. "Hey, you think that maybe there's another vampire with a soul out there and this is his town?" The lawyer joked.

"Funny Gunn, real funny." Angel returned to him flatly. "Do you think that you can manage to get her off for all of these charges?"

"Most of them shouldn't be too hard." Gunn said as he thought it out. "All we'll have to do is get the right kind of dirt on the judge, D.A, and jury and we'll have the whole matter wrapped up in a matter of minutes. If we decided to take the case that is."

"Right," Angel said, "alright people are we set to meet this woman and determine whether or not we're going to have to take her? Wes, is there any last bit of information on this woman that might give us a reason to deny her representation? Does she have plans to destroy the world in anyway?"

"No I don't believe so. She might be happier if there were less people around to hurt her precious plants, but there is nothing in her file that says that she is willing to try and destroy all life on earth just so that the plants will be safe. I figure the most she is willing to destroy is a small country or large city to get her point across and even then it would have to be something pretty extreme for her to be willing to do that."

"Fine," the vampire said in disappointment, "send her in."

The others nodded and a few moments later a new figure stepped through the doors. Lorne let out a low and steady appreciative whistle at the figure that sauntered into the room. The group hadn't bothered looking at the photo of this client and hadn't known that the potential client had light green skin close to the shade of Lorne's with emerald colored eyes and bright red hair. The young woman was like looking at a human rose. Then there was the fact that all of her clothes looked like they were made from some form of leaves and vines that her skin blended in with adding to the natural look that the woman had going. "I think that I've died and gone to heaven." The demon said as he gazed at the young woman. "I don't suppose I can get you anything water a chair little Rosebud?" He asked hopefully.

"Thank you this seat will do just fine though." The green skinned woman returned with a coy smile.

"This could be bad." Fred said as they watched the hungry look that the demon was giving the woman, and that was before she managed to activate any of her abilities. It was actually kind of scary at how quickly Lorne had fallen to the green skinned woman's charms. Then again this was probably the first woman that looked like one of his people that had shown any interest in him in years.

"No kidding," Angel grumbled to her. "Lorne pull yourself together remember she's a client not someone for you to date." He hissed at the Host.

"I don't know, it wouldn't be the first time that someone dated a client." Eve said with a grin as she looked at the demon who was practically drooling as the plant woman walked in.

"You're a professional Lorne, so get your act together." Angel growled, ignoring Eve and all of her jokes for the moment. "You are the Host, you see beautiful women and demons all the time and don't let them take you down like this. Are you going to let her destroy your reputation that you worked so hard to build?"

"She'd almost be worth it." Lorne said with a sigh and a smile as his eyes stared into the emerald colored eyes. "So tell me little Flower Princess, just what is it that Wolfram and Hart can do for such a vision of loveliness like yourself?" He questioned the criminal with a smile and a bright and cheery song in his heart.

The woman smirked at the man before turning to look at the others. "I am Pamela Isley, but I think that you can call me Poison Ivy." She said as she shook hands with the demon. "It is after all my professional name." She said with a knowing smile.

Lorne seemed to shiver at the touch of her hand. "Ah, that's wonderful Rosebud, allow me to introduce you to the rest of the Wolfram and Hart gang." He waved at the others as introduction. The dark avenging one is Angel he's the CEO and in charge person. He's not really much of a conservationist though and would rather stand there and brood than talk with you. It's nothing to do with you though." He assured her with a quick smile.

"I understand, Ivy returned to him, in this city it's common to know his type all too well. Something of an occupational hazard you might say." Poison Ivy joked to the demon causing both to smile.

"I know what you mean, I deal with him all the time. I'm just sorry that you have to deal with it as well it must be just horrible for you to have your very own brooding one." Lorne returned to her sympathetically as he gave her a starry eyed look. "Next to him is Wesley, don't let the glare fool you he's really a teddy bear after you take away all of the various weapons he carries around." Poison Ivy nodded her head respectfully toward the demon hunter he and Angel had much in common with Batman they would be the ones to be wary of. Lorne continued on unaware of the evaluation that the woman was performing at his side. "Beside him is Freddyikins sweetest little Southern Angel that there ever was. Fred blushed at the introduction but shot a smile at the criminal. "Gunn there is both muscle and legal man if anyone can help you out with your little problems it will be him. Finally there's Eve, she's a bit of a viper at times but she does have her uses from time to time." Lorne said finishing off the introductions.

"Wow that's the sweetest thing that any of you have ever said to me." Eve said in shock and surprise as she stared at the demon with a pleased smile on her face. "I think that you're finally starting to accept me for who I really am." She smirked at the disgusted looks that some members of the group were now wearing at that thought.

"What can I say; when I see beauties like this it puts me in a more tolerant mood for opportunistic people like you." Lorne returned before focusing on Poison Ivy. The woman smiled in return at this statement.

Angel shook his head at this Lorne was totally smitten it seems. "Well Gunn you want to explain to her exactly what it is that she's up against?"

Gunn nodded as he looked at the files. "Well Poison Ivy, your being charged with murder, manslaughter, mass murder, terrorism, breaking and entering, destruction of private property, destruction of public property, destruction of government property, breaking and entering, grand theft auto, producing weapons of mass destruction, arms dealing, experimenting on humans, illegal cloning, and creating biological weapons."

"Yes that sounds right, and I promise you I don't want the world to end. If that was to happen where would all of the plants grow then?" Poison Ivy questioned them with a pout as if the very thought was insulting to her.

"Well she has a point there Angelcakes." Lorne piped in. "She's at one with nature and all that. If anyone is not going to want the world to end it would have to be her. Its bad for nature for the world to end."

Angel nodded his head in reluctant agreement while Eve just smiled at him. "As much as I hate to admit it your right Lorne. She's just a bit more proactive than is probably safe for her to be though. " He said not about to give a compliment to the woman just yet.

"Awe that's nothing, with the right anger management courses we can get her out and on the streets in no time." Lorne assured the others.

"Perhaps," Angel muttered not looking completely convinced. "Just remember that some plants only feel growth when they're covered in organic fluids like blood. Wes how about you?"

"Well despite her occasional killing and crime sprees I can't come up with a decent reason for us not to represent Poison Ivy here." Wesley admitted. "Sorry that I wasn't able to find anything for you."

"I'm sure you did your best." Angel assured him. "Gunn?"

"Like they said man, there's nothing that we have that can argue against helping her." Gunn returned. "Since most of her arrests were done by this Bat character we can claim that the G.C.P.D is encouraging vigilantism and that excessive force was used to take her down. Besides since she has meta human abilities the Suicide Squad may move in to take her case and those cases usually end with the person pleading guilty and signing on for a few years and becoming their attack dog."

"Fred?" Angel said as he looked at the last member of his team curiously already knowing that the choice had been made.

"I'm with them Angel." Fred drawled out. "There's no reason for us to not work with her when you consider what her crimes are."

"Yeah, and you know I think that we should represent her." Eve added in her smile wilting slightly under the glare from the vampire.

Angel looked disgruntled but nodded his head. "Fine then, I guess we're your new lawyers since you never tried to completely destroy the world." He said getting a victorious smile from Poison Ivy.

"I'm so glad that things worked out the way that they did." The woman said she then bent down and kissed Lorne fully on the lips. The woman then gave the others a flirty wink before she strolled out of the room with confidence.

Lorne's eyes followed after her and seemed to follow after the woman even as she was out of eyesight. The demon gave a longing sigh before he seemed to melt into his chair a glazed look still on his face as he contemplated the beautiful and deadly woman that had just left the room. "What a knockout." The demon declared to the others with a small smile on his face as he contemplated what he could do for the woman green skinned woman.

"So you think that you're going to see her again?" Fred questioned with interest glad that it was not her love life that was once again being investigated. The others were all way to protective of her to properly date anyone sometimes and she really didn't want any of them catching on to her feelings about Wesley just yet until she had come to deal with the emotions herself.

"You never know Fred, you never know." Lorne replied while looking at the profile picture of the woman with a smile as he pulled it out of the file and stuck it into a pocket in his jacket. "Just in case." He said with a smile as he caught all of the others watching him with knowing looks as he withdrew his hand..

"Of course," Wesley said dryly.


	6. Cat Woman

Don't own Catwoman/Batman characters nor do I own Buffy/Angel characters

* * *

"So now that we've dealt with people that shoot ice bird fetish, control plants are immortal and muscle bound druggies what else do we have for this city to throw at us?" Angel questioned the others with interest as he looked at the pile of folders wondering what they would have to face next. "I thought that since we were going to be only dealing with people from one city that there would be less of the craziness here and we would only have to worry about one type of law breaker instead we're still dealing with law breakers of every type that there is." The vampire complained to his team who nodded their head in agreement. "Did you do something to insure that we would get all of the psycho and crazy cases?" Angel asked Eve suspiciously not putting it past the young woman to make his life all the more difficult just for her own twisted sense of amusement.

"Hey, don't try and pin this one on me." The woman said holding her hands up to ward him off of blaming her for his current problems. "I had nothing to do with who asked you to represent them. If you want to blame someone blame the Joker guy. He's been bragging about you guys and all of your great work for weeks now. Even went as far as bragging that he was nearly untouchable now thanks to us. If anyone is to blame its you guys for doing such a good job for us."

Fred reached over and grabbed her file first meaning that she would be the one to start the briefing. "Let's see, the next person is a person by the name of Selina Kyle. She's got a long list of breaking and entering according to this."

"Yes, well not surprising when you consider just who it is that we're talking about." Wesley returned to her as he picked up his own file. "The young woman known throughout the world as Selina Kyle actually has another more well known name that she goes by like so many of the other criminals that reside within this city. She is better known as the Cat woman, arguably the most well known and skilled cat burglar that the world has ever seen. The woman has the reputation as never having met a lock that she hasn't been able to crack with enough time and preparation. Her files list her as a master of all forms of sleight of hand thievery along with some of the other greats. She's listed in the top ten master thieves actually. She's also an Olympic level gymnast, and a master of several forms of martial arts, and an expert in the use of whips and cats claws weapons. Her primary combat teacher is said to be a man by the name of the Armless Master. A man with no arms yet was considered as one of the best in the world as far as teachers go. She also has a sister a former nun by the name of Maggie who is certifiably insane. It seems that another criminal was angry with Cat Woman and forced her sister to eat the eyeballs of her husband. In retaliations Cat Woman killed the man."

"Yeah I've met the armless master before." The vampire returned. Not much of a conversationalist. What else do we know about her?" Angel asked curiously as he skimmed his own file. In his time he had seen and heard worse than that, and was not going to let that stop him from doing what he was needed.

Wesley nodded and continued his briefing. "From her history I can tell you this. She's either a former prostitute or used it as a cover for one of her jobs. Some of the details of that are a bit confusing and are a bit unsure. She is rumored to be the heir to the Falcone family which is one of the great crime families within Gotham city. Its either that or her father was a drunk who lost himself in the bottle after the death of his wife. The woman has so many aliases and side stories that it's hard to piece them together to give you a real picture of the case. The only one who may know it all would be the young woman herself or her deceased mother."

"It's not important enough to waste the resources on dragging the woman up." Angel returned to them. "Besides, there's probably a reason that she took the secret with her into the grave. Anything else?"

"Yes, it seems that somewhere along the line that she has reformed herself." Wesley explained. "She has been seen assisting some of the people, and gone back to her old way of fighting and stealing."

"And that would be?" Lorne asked with interest.

"A Robin Hood style method, of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor." Wesley told him. "As a matter of fact she partnered up with an investigator for some time working with him in the east end of Gotham while performing jobs of less legal matters."

Angel nodded at his friend. "So she was working for her redemption in her own way as well?" The vampire questioned as he considered that thought. The idea of having someone who understood the idea of working for redemption was something he could understand.

"What are the crimes we're talking about Gunn?" Fred asked curiously.

"Basically stealing anything that's not bolted down and even then you can't be sure that she wouldn't take it." Gunn said as he held up his heavy files. "I got multiple counts of Breaking and Entering, Grand Theft Auto, pick pocketing, shoplifting, art theft, animal theft cats mainly, and any other kind of stealing that you can think of. She also has the typical resisting arrest, use of a deadly weapon with her whip and claws. There was a time that she was accused of shooting Commissioner Gordon but those charges were dropped when they discovered the real shooter behind that one."

"Lorne do you have anything to add on her?" Angel quizzed.

"Only that she has great fashion sense and doesn't allow the times to mess her up." The demon returned. He then pulled out a variety of photos that showed off all sorts of cat themed costumes. Some were a type of dress while others were spandex that left no room for the imagination and others were leather armored body suits. Most of them had slots for the weapons that the woman used most of the gloves having been fitted with claws and some of the boots as well. "I'm kind of partial to the purple body suit one myself." The demon admitted. "Though her current outfit of black with giant goggles is a nice one to." He added displaying his personal favorites of the woman's costume choices with a grin.

"Okay, and on that note I suggest we ring her up and see what it is that we can get out of her." Fred said getting nods of agreement from the others as they summoned the next potential client to the small office that they had taken over.

"Well hello there." The woman purred as she stalked into the room despite the fact that she was wearing chains. Her eyes found Angel and a grin covered her face. "A tall, dark, brooding, and handsome figure that isn't the Batman I am amazed." She said with a smile. "I didn't know that there was anyone else that was capable of performing that sort of look off besides the Batman. I mean look at you, you've even got the whole absorbing the shadows trick going on for you as well." She noted as she watched the man as intently as a Cat would a Mouse. She was currently clad in a black outfit with the zipper pulled down to show her ample cleavage, with goggles resting on her head, and an empty belt. All of the various hidden weapons and tools missing from her costume didn't seem to make her lose any of her confidence though as she strode through the room.

"Ah Miss Selina Kyle, an honor to meet with you." Eve said with a smile offering her hand to the woman who casually shook it. "Your literally a living legend when it comes to people that are the best at what you do."

"Yes, yes." The woman said with a haughty grin that would have put Cordellia to shame when she was in full Queen C mode. Angel and Wesley noted. This woman was a dangerous person to be around. "And now that you know me can you tell me who you are?"

"Of course," a smiling Eve said. "First there's Winifred Burkle, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, Lorne, and Charles Gunn. They're all part of the board of directors. Then of course there's the CEO of the L.A Branch Angel."

"Well he sure looks tasty enough to be one." Selina said as she examined the man before her. He reminded her so much of the Batman from the way he sat in his chair to the way he looked at her. There was something different about him though that made her know that whoever this man was he wasn't the Batman. He would make a great stand in for him though if she ever needed to have someone play the part. She would have to tell that bit of information to Bruce when next she saw him.

"So do we need to refer to you as Cat Woman or will your given name be sufficient?" Wesley asked her curiously as he regarded the woman before him. It was like someone had thrown Buffy, Faith, and Cordellia into a blender and come out with this goddess that now stood before them.

"Cat Woman will work." The thief replied as she changed and got down to business with the group as they were now ready to talk business with her.

"Very well then Cat Woman, shall we begin then?" Wesley asked her as he began going through his files.

Cat Woman nodded her head in agreement. "By all means sir. I would rather try and get out of jail as quickly as possible and someone bet me that I couldn't do it with a lawyer so here I am."

"Wait, so your only still here because of a bet?" Gunn asked looking at the woman in disbelief.

Well it sure ain't the food Cat Woman said and then with a smile and with a flick of her wrists the handcuffs fell off of her wrists and her hands seemed to brush the ankle chains and she was free. "Any other questions?" The woman asked him.

"Impressive," Angel told her. "Gunn, you want to read her the charges that she's going to be up against?"

"Yeah sure man." Gunn replied as he found the list of charges that they were going to be using against their potential client. "There's stealing anything that's not bolted down and even then you can't be sure that she wouldn't take it. Gunn said as he held up his files. I got multiple counts of Breaking and Entering, Grand Theft Auto, pick pocketing, shoplifting, art theft, animal theft cats mainly, and any other kind of stealing that you can think of. You also have the typical resisting arrest, use of a deadly weapon with your whip and claws."

\"You've been busy." Angel noted to the woman.

Cat Woman merely smiled and shrugged at him. "You're as talkative as Batman as well aren't you?" She questioned him with a smirk.

"Tell me why we should represent you?" Angel quizzed her. "What makes you good enough for us to take the chance of you're destroying the world?"

"Destroy the world?" Cat Woman returned in confusion. "I'm afraid that you've got the wrong person for that. World ending is not in my repertoire of skills. If you need me to steal something for you though I would be more than willing to work it into whatever I may owe you as long as it doesn't have anything to do with ending the world I'm very good at what I do after all. "

"We know you are, and it's likely that something like that would be used as part as your payment to us." Wesley returned to her. "We just want to make sure that you aren't dangerous to the world before we consider turning you loose on the world."

"Fair enough." Cat Woman returned to the man.

"Lorne you getting anything?" Angel asked of his companion.

"Other than a cave and a lot of other people dressed in various outfits nothing really." The demon returned. "I think she's more likely to try and fight the end of the world than she is to try and help it end. So I'm going to vote that we represent her."

"Same here." Fred said getting agreeing nods from Wesley, and Gunn. Eve on the other hand didn't look so sure as if there was something that she didn't like about the thief.

"Is there a problem?" Angel questioned her.

"She's a helper to the mysterious Bat or at the very least an Ally." Eve returned to him. "Having her free means that we're helping the white hats somewhat not something that the senior partners are going to be extremely happy about. Besides they'd really rather not have to worry about a new champion or whatever taking over your spot as an annoyance. So I'm going to vote no. While her skills would be great to have for a retainer I don't think it would do us good if we were to show ourselves as supportive of the Batman and his people."

"Sounds like all the more reason for us to represent her then." Angel informed the young woman. Besides you forget that your vote doesn't count here?" He then turned to look at Cat Woman. "I know what its like to change your ways and work on your redemption. I don't think that you've ever done things as bad as I have I do think that in your own way you're trying to make up for some of the things that you've done. If we can help you we'll do it."

"You're working for redemption and yet you work as a lawyer?" Cat Woman said in amusement. "I'm sorry but that seems to defeat the purpose of everything doesn't it?"

Angel chuckled a bit at this. "I sometimes wonder but I also know that I'm doing a lot of good doing things this way. Besides, this company used to make a habit of sending people out to kill me. Now I'm killing and taking their money at the same time."

"Good way to keep the killers off if you're the one signing the paychecks." Cat Woman agreed with him. "Must make all of the things work better that way"

"Well I dodge bullets a lot less these days." Angel admitted. It also allows me to focus on the real mission when I don't have to worry about having to dodge someone unexpected trying to off me for however much they're offering."

"Taking over the competition then? I like it, not really my style but it has its good points." Cat Woman said with a nod of her head at what he had managed to do. "Batman would probably make some big deal over how he couldn't trust you because of your willingness to sell out, but I'm sure that there are reasons for you to operate the way that you do. So now that we're done with niceties are you going to represent me? Your advisors may have said yes while the representative said no there's still the fact that you haven't answered."

"I think that your worth the risk." Angel returned to her. "I think we should represent you. We can use all of the good that you've done as a reason to let you go."

Cat Woman smiled leaned forward and brushed her lips against the vampires. "You're not my dark knight but you'll do if you can make that happen." The thief then slowly got up stretched returned her handcuffs to her arms and waltzed out of the room.

"There's potential there for you." Lorne told the vampire after the door had shut. "Something tells me that you could work with her very well."

"Not now Lorne," Angel returned as he turned back to his work.


	7. Two Face

**The texaswookie groans as he sees the two face check the pistols one last time. "You know, there has to be ways around this." The writer tries hopefully.**

"Its real simple though." The Two-Face responds to him. "I flip the coin and you either tell me what I want to hear or if it lands on heads I shoot you with the guns." He displayed the mismatched guns he was using. "If it lands on tails though I gut you and let you bleed out all over the place." He then displayed a long and rusty looking blade. "Here we go." The scarred man said as he flipped the coin in the air.

"All right already I the texaswookie lay no claim to the characters in this story as they belong to the DCU owners and Joss. Thank you and Happy Turkey Day. Satisfied?"

"It'll do." THe Two-Face responds with annoyance as he catches the coin in his outstretched hand.

* * *

Angel looked at his team as they prepared to draw yet another file from the pile. The people of Gotham were odd to say the least. In some ways they were as interesting as some of the demons that they served. Unfortunately they also seemed to be just as dangerous as many of the other clients though. It was hard to believe that some of these people were human when you considered everything that they had done. It also brought about a depressing thought of wondering why they even bothered to get into the fight to save the world if this was all that there was. In some ways some of these people were actually worse than he was as Angelus and he had the excuse of not having a soul. He wondered what the reasoning some of these people would give for their actions if he were to ever ask them for it. What was the point of saving a world that was perfectly content to rip itself to shreds in completely different ways? Was there even a reason to continue with their quest if all the world was going to do was create human versions of the very same problems that they had dealt with? The vampire with a soul put away the curious thoughts as he turned to his team. Right now he had to deal with this he would worry about the rest of it later. "Alright, who or what do we have next?" He asked looking at his friends. "Any chance of getting a case that we might actually like having? The Catwoman case wasn't too bad and I wouldn't mind a few more criminals that are like her." He said hopefully. Someone that worked both sides was actually better than someone who was completely evil.

"It's a shame that she's the exception and not the rule here then." Wesley returned to his companion getting dark looks from all around the table as they all drew their folders toward them. "The next person that wants our representation is a Mr. Harvey Dent. A.K.A, The Two-Face. From what we know of the man he used to be the District Attorney for Gotham until he was attacked in the court room by someone he was working on putting in jail. From what we know of him on that venue the damage that was done to him caused his mind to snap and created a secondary personality within his mind. There are some people who said the alternative personality was always there and that the attack was just what was needed for it to take control over the body and become the dominant personality. He has been diagnosed as having a bipolar disorder, multiple personality syndrome, and extreme paranoia." They all looked down at the file to see a man with one half of his face covered in ugly bruising and scars while on the other it was the face of a very handsome man. He was also wearing a suit that was one half black the other half some sort of chaotic mess.

"Not a bad idea for the outfit, not really the clothes I would pick for this sort of thing but then again he can so make it work." Lorne said critiquing the outfit that the man wore. "It would require some work but I think that I could make it work somehow it wouldn't hurt if I could get the name of the man who does his clothes though to see what else that he can do." The demon speculated to the others. If I can get that done I imagine there might be a few demons that might find this a good outfit. It would be popular particularly with the Janus worshippers and chaos demons."

Wesley sent a glare over at the demon which silenced him for the moment. "He is different than most of our clients in that he didn't start out as a criminal. He is actually a divorced man and has a daughter and there is a rumor that a set of twins his ex had may actually be his children as well. He has another child a daughter by the name of Duella Dent. The girl is underage though so there isn't very much information on the girl. Interestingly enough Mr. Dent was once engaged to none other than Poison Ivy. The engagement didn't last since she tried to poison him later on though. He has a passion for doing crimes that deal in duality. It is in fact his trademark for doing crime as well known as his using a coin to assist him in making some of the choices in his life."

"A coin, how can he use a coin to make choices unless? Oh please tell me that you're kidding man." Gunn said as he began to understand what the man was saying. "Are telling me that this fool uses a coin toss to decide for him?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I am." Wesley returned to the group lawyer. "The man has almost made a religion out of it actually."

"A fatalist." Angel said in grim understanding. "He believes that all choices are already mapped out and that he's simply following whatever path that has been laid out for him."

"Precisely," Wesley agreed. "He has one of the highest beliefs in the system that I have ever seen. He also seems to believe in portions of the Chance ideology though, which is rather confusing sometimes using words to inspire hope but in the end he is ruled by whatever side that his coin lands on."

"If it's just his face couldn't we cure him of that?" Fred asked the others. "I mean can't we just fix his face so that he can go back to his old life? We have the resources to get him the best plastic surgery if we need to."

"Unfortunately that won't work." Wesley said. "Several others have thought the same and have even arranged to have his face repaired twice and while he started out becoming better he would always have some sort of relapse and self inflict the wounds on his face and the whole mess would start all over again."

"What kinds of crimes are we talking about here guys?" Angel asked as he eyed a picture of the coin with distaste. He had learned that there was fate and then there was Fate. He had learned that there ways around such things you just had to be willing to go beyond what you thought or were told. It had been Buffy's fate to die fighting the Master after all. The idea of putting your entire trust in a coin was beyond insane to him. Only you could decide your fate not a piece of metal.

Gunn drew his file open and winced at the long list that appeared before him. "He's another one of the multi talented crime lords of Gotham man. He's got murder, attempted murder, organized crime, smuggling, assault, terrorism, assault with a deadly weapon, possession of deadly weapon, grand theft auto, breaking and entering, blackmail, and resisting arrest. Just your usual Gotham city criminal in a costume you might say."

"Lorne, anything you'd like to share with us about him?" Angel questioned.

"Not a thing Angel cakes." Lorne returned to him. "There's nothing I have on him. All I have is the same basic information that you do nothing that we might be able to use."

Angel nodded and continued around the table. "Wes, Fred?" He questioned the other two.

"Nothing else appears in his files Angel." Wesley returned to him.

And there's nothing I can do for him if he won't accept treatment Fred said. "He's also not a scientist or inventor, so there's nothing that I can find on him that we could use."

"Personally I hope that you accept him." Eve said from where she was sitting. "I mean the man is a great lawyer there is no question on that. Have you seen some of the people that he's defended? He managed to get the Joker of all people off on technicalities and he managed to make it so that they had to let the man go free. Do any of you have any idea what Wolfram and Hart could do with such a man it would be like the ultimate gift for us. It would be particularly good if we really do manage to place an office here if there was already some local talent ready to begin working for us. He would already know all of the judges and crime families." The woman theorized with a smile. "Yes, Mr. Dent would be particularly useful member to our forces. The fact that he was once a DA would merely make him all the more desirable. Cole was once one of our best before he allowed his humanity to get the better of him. A shame he allowed himself to feel again." The woman said with a shake of her head in sorrow that none of the others believed for a moment.

"Eve, shut up." Angel told her in annoyance before turning to the others. "Anything from anyone else that counts that they want to add before we meet with him?" He asked pointedly while glaring at her.

"Oh that hurts." Eve shot back but a glare from the vampire settled her down before she said anything else to him.

"Let's do this then." Angel nodded toward the guard at the door and he quickly opened it to allow the prisoner to come through. Standing before them was Harvey Dent complete with his heavily scarred face and mismatched suit. None of the group were really disturbed by his looks since they had all seen worse looking demons in their days. The half and half was somewhat hard to get used to though.

"Hello Mr. Dent, I'm Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. Over here we have Angel, next is Mr. Gunn, Miss Burkle, Eve, and Lorne." The former watcher greeted their new potential client.

"Pleasure to finally be meeting with you." The scarred man said as he looked around the room his voice was somewhat raspy either from lack of use or the fact that several of the scars were around his throat. "Call me Two Face though I'm not that weakling Dent, at least not completely." He added with a sneer. They all waited as the man sat down and then took out a large heavy coin and began flipping it and catching it in the air.

The group nodded their acceptance of the man's requests. "Very well Two-Face, now what can we do for you exactly? You hardly need us to represent you with the legal background that you have. Your reputation and skills speak for themselves. I hardly even see the need for us to be here." Gunn returned to the gangster with interest.

"Your right, I don't need you," Two-Face growled back to him, "but you have resources that can be of some use to me."

"So you mainly want us to protect you and provide for you during the case then?" Wesley questioned curiously.

"Yes, that's all I want. I just need the time to prove myself." Two-Face returned to him.

"Gunn, read the charges that are being placed against him." Angel ordered never taking his eyes off of the other man. A man like him could be predictable unless the coin had told them to do something that they might be unprepared for then they were very dangerous to confront.

Gunn nodded and pushed the file toward the man. "From your files you are being charged with murder, attempted murder, organized crime, smuggling, assault, terrorism, assault with a deadly weapon, possession of deadly weapon, grand theft auto, breaking and entering, blackmail, and resisting arrest." The dark skinned man shook his head at the list of crimes that the other man had managed to get piled onto him. "I would really hate to be you when facing a judge with these kinds of charges."

"Maybe, but I can deal with them." Two-Face returned confidently. "I just need to use your resources to clear my name."

"We can probably come to an arrangement for that and afterwards there may even be some future work you can do with us having a person of your varied job skills would be instrumental in some of our own goals." Eve piped in.

"We'll see, I have my own plans starting with Gotham." Two-Face replied to the young woman.

"What is it about this city that draws people like you and the Bat?" Wesley questioned with interest as he looked the man over. "I really wish I knew what it is that makes people like you come here and do what it is that you do. There is no known external item that causes this city to act the way that it does."

"Every city has the things that it's known for." Two-Face returned to him uncaringly. "We happen to be known for our murderous tendencies is all."

"Right," Angel said cutting the Watcher off before he could fire off some sort of answer toward the man. "Before we get into philosophy over the city we need to decide whether or not we are able to represent you." The vampire explained.

"Of course." Two-Face said, "would you prefer it if I walked out."

"I doubt think that it will matter." Angel returned to him. "Fred you want to start?"

"Um sure." the woman said as she eyed the heavily scarred man one more time before turning to look at the others. "Two-Face doesn't show any need or want to destroy or take over the world." The scientist explained causing the criminal to sit up slightly at that. "Therefore I see no reason for us to not assist him in getting free."

"Despite my personal feelings about the man's chosen career path I have no real reason to not represent him either." Wesley admitted to the others.

"Gunn, how about you?" Angel questioned looking at the lawyer with interest.

"Nothing man, sorry, but he's got good reason to be represented by us." Gunn said apologizing to the vampire.

The vampire with a soul nodded toward his team. "All right Lorne, how about you?"

"Sorry Angel-Cakes, despite the fact that he gives me a bit of a headache I can't give you a reason for you to give him the old heave ho. As far as I can tell in the long run he doesn't really matter in the way that we do things."

Angel nodded before turning to look at the scarred man. "As much as you in a twisted way remind me of myself in some ways, and that's something I would rather not have. My team is right though. There is no real reason to deny you our help in the coming court case you got coming. You ever give me an excuse to do so though and I'll yank our support so quickly that you won't even know what hit you." Angel promised the man who nodded his head in understanding. "Good, then I think that you got yourselves a legal team to work with then." Angel said offering his hand to the man who shook it with a smile.


	8. Riddler

**Riddler**

Don't own Angel characters or Batman characters. No heart in amusing disclaimers this time around.

* * *

"So who's next?" Angel questioned as the door clanged shut behind their newest client. The fact that they were going to representing psychos like him was disturbing. There was no arguing that most of their clients were evil, however instead of destroy the world evil they were more like kill a room full of people evil. He knew that in the long run there might not be much difference between the two, but he had to take every little bit of comfort that he could get right now. The drawn looks from the others showed that the interviews were drawing their own toll on them as well. What he really need was a rather simple case for them to deal with to kind of rejuvenate them from the stress that working with all of the Gothamites seemed to create in them. Unfortunately for them the Catwoman and Penguin cases were probably the easiest ones that they had considering what it is that those two had done. He would have to figure a way to let them all deal when they got back. Gotham just wasn't a really good place for any of them.

"Another man, whom dresses after my own heart." Lorne replied as they opened the newest folder. "I mean seriously the shades of green in his outfits are truly inspiring it kind of makes a demon proud to be a lean, mean, green machine. I never realized that Gotham had such cutting edge fashion. We really should look into it after everything is said and done."

"Yes I'm sure." Wesley replied to his friend dryly. "The next person we have is Edward Nygma, or Mr. E Nygma. He's better known to the world at large though as the costumed villain the Riddler." They all looked down to see a man dressed in lime green outfit and bowler hat over the bodysuit there were several small purple question marks with a large one on his chest another larger one decorated the front of his bowler and he wore a purple domino mask as well. "This man is another one of the Batman's infamous rogues."

"Hey what are the chances that this Bat guy is into the whole redemption thing as well?" Gunn asked curiously. "I mean he has the whole creature of the night gig down pretty good what if he's trying to make up for something somehow?"

"An interesting theory," Fred agreed, "but to know for sure about that we would have to know more about him than we do now to get even the most basic idea on who and what he is."

"She's right, Wesley said, "Besides we have more pressing matters to deal with like in our next potential client."

"So what do you about our new boy Wesley?" Lorne asked curiously. "I mean we can already tell that he's a snazzy dresser and all but does he have some other hidden depths to him that we need to be aware of?"

"According to his files no." Wesley returned to the demon. "For all extent and purposes he's a normal person that has no additional abilities. He prefers to elaborate plans off though and then leave clues behind for the police and the Batman so that they will find him."

"It sounds as if the Riddler is more interested in the chase or the hunt than in actually making it big." Fred noted to the others. "The fact that most of his major scores have been found it doesn't make things as bad for him."

"So we're dealing with a super brain that needs to find a better use of his time then?" Gunn questioned them in disbelief.

"Really just someone that's really good at trivia or putting the various pieces of the puzzle together actually." Fred returned to the lawyer.

"Yeah and according to our reports he makes some of the most impressive death traps in several dimensions." Eve said with a smile. "A skill that would put him in high demand with a number of our other clients as a contractor of sorts." She added to the group brightly. The others merely glared at the woman for making such comments about the man and his skills.

"Is there any other information that you think that we should add to this stuff Wes?" Angel questioned the demon hunter.

"Yes there is, the man is trying to reform and has started by making an investigating service that he runs. He seems to think that he shall even someday e considered as great if not a greater detective as the Batman is." Wesley explained to his companions.

"Those are pretty high standards that he's setting for himself then." Fred noted to them. "The Batman is supposed to be responsible for eighty three percent of the more impressive captures that the G.C.P.D manages to get. He's also responsible for thirty six percent of the regular crime arrests as well. That is if he really does exist and isn't something people made up for some reason or other that we don't know about."

"Agreed, but at least the Riddler's trying to change." Angel countered the woman. "If he's willing to try and change and work with the other side, can we really be so quick to condemn him?" He asked the others curiously. "In his own way he's fighting the system a lot like we are. In fact we started out as detective agency shouldn't we give him the same chance we were given to earn his redemption."

"As long as you remember that the circumstances between the two of you are drastically different." Wesley interjected before the vampire made the man seem just like him. "He did everything that he did with his soul completely intact." The man reminded the group. "He was the one in control not some demon but him."

Angel nodded his head in agreement by the set of his jaw though it was obvious he was more willing to listen to this man than the others. "Gunn what are the charges against him?" He asked turning the focus onto the lawyer.

"He's being charged with multiple counts Kidnapping, robbery, electronic robbery, identity theft, blackmail, arson breaking and entering, resisting arrest, assault, of possession of a deadly weapon, kidnapping, possession of drugs, intent to sell drugs, escaping prison, reckless endangerment, armed robbery, illegally entering and exiting of the country, attempted murder, and organized crime." Gunn told the vampire. "You know the usual crimes for a big time Gotham city villain to have. "

Angel nodded and seemed to be lost in thought on what to think of the man that they might be defending on the one hand he had committed all sorts of crimes. On the other hand though, he was now willing to make up for the things that he had done by helping others much as he had once done. He could no longer do the job with Wolfram and Hart people chasing after him all the time. Maybe he could help though if he were to put the Riddler on the street to help make up for what he couldn't do the vampire mused to himself as he tried to figure out where he should stand on this man. This was one part he hated about the job he had now. Before he merely had to find them and beat them up now he had to figure out what the consequences were for his actions.

"Let's meet the man and then we can decide if we're wasting our time with him or not campers." Lorne said before the group could begin to discuss the merits of trying to save someone that wanted to switch sides as opposed to letting him rot in prison.

The others nodded their heads and the man was allowed into the room. He was wearing his lime green outfit complete with question marks bowler hat and purple gloves. The man nodded his thanks to the guards before he turned to look at the lawyers. "Hello, I take it by the others that have gone before me that you are the Wolfram and Hart Lawyers."

"Indeed we are." Wesley agreed.

"From what I've already seen you've accepted everyone even the Joker, however you denied Ra's Al Ghul. This means that you are either very brave or foolish as there are very few that would wish to anger him." Riddler explained his observations of what he had seen. "This means though that there is a reasoning behind your choices in just whom it is that you represent. This means there is more to it than just money."

"Very good." Wesley congratulated the man impressed he had figured that much out already by simply watching those that they had accepted or denied. "You are correct in that matter. We have a rather simple rule when it comes to our clients we have the rule that there can be no attempts to destroy the world. The number of problems we solve that way is reduced somewhat by not having to deal with people like that. It also does not put us into direct conflict with our clients since we are rather aggressive when it comes to countering that method."

The Riddler smiled at that. "Looking at your group I can imagine so." He said dryly as his eyes peered through the holes of his mask as he studied the group. The eyes never staying on one person for more than a moment though. It was as if he was analyzing and trying to predict the movements of the group before they tried to do anything. "Although I find it easier to know who I am dealing with if I have names."

"Of course sorry." Angel said as he rose from his seat. "I'm Angel, the CEO of Wolfram and Hart. This is Wesley head of research, Fred here is in charge of the various tech that we use and for some developments, Lorne is in charge of our entertainment division you know for the clients that are more in the public eye, and then there's Gunn he's our primary lawyer who handles a majority of our case loads."

"A pleasure to meet you all." The man in lime green said tipping his hat to the group.

"Likewise," Gunn said with a nod before he pulled out his folder. "Now then, would you prefer if we address you as the Riddler or would you rather we use your birth name. We wouldn't want to accidently insult you."

"Understandable, but I think I would prefer to be known by my alias if you please." Riddler returned to him.

Gunn nodded as he made a note in the file for the man. "Thanks man, now if you're ready to begin?"

"Of course, let us begin." Riddler said interested to hear what he was up against and how these people would manage to help him out of this mess that he was in.

Gunn nodded and began to recite the charges toward their next prospective client. "Very well then Riddler here's what they're charging you with this time around. Multiple counts Kidnapping, robbery, electronic robbery, identity theft, blackmail, arson breaking and entering, resisting arrest, assault, of possession of a deadly weapon, kidnapping, possession of drugs, intent to sell drugs, escaping prison, reckless endangerment, illegally entering and exiting of the country, attempted murder, and organized crime."

"Not a bad collection of charges if I do say so myself." The man said seeming somewhat proud of all the crimes that they were throwing at him this time around.

"You've been busy." Angel observed as he watched the man coolly.

"Yes I suppose that I have." Riddler agreed with a smirk as he looked at the lawyers. "Can you get me out of this mess?"

"We can definitely get you out of the death penalty for all of this but after that there's not much that we can do at the moment." Gunn explained to the man. You're using riddles to tell people how to stop you can work in your favor since people like the Batman have solved your clues in time. With your work in helping people though they might let you out if you were to somehow prove that you were trustworthy."

"Most interesting and now you need to decide whether or not I am trustworthy and worth the effort it would require to put into me if I am not mistaken." Riddler noted as he looked around the room. "I personally assure you that I have no intentions of trying to end the world in any form or fashion."

"I think that you're telling the truth." Gunn said to the man after a moment before turning to look at the others. "I think I'll vote we represent him guys."

Angel nodded as he turned to the others. "I agree, I feel particularly good about the recommendation considering that you are trying to make up for the things that you have done. I'll be very disappointed in you though if you were to fall back into the old ways. I know it's hard but we'll try to help you from doing that." He assured the criminal who nodded back toward the vampire in thanks.

Wesley seemed agreeable though still hesitant. "I agree, despite some of his methods he is at least trying to change and he has never knowingly tried to end the world. At most he's threatened the city of Gotham a few times. There really is no reason that I can find for us to not represent him."

"A man like him would be great to have as a consultant." Fred said as she looked his file over again. "Besides, with your luck you may need his help in defeating various things and who knows he might e good at figuring out prophecies." The other looked at her in shock and disbelief not believing that they hadn't thought of the man's skills with puzzles and word problems like that. The woman was right though the man before them could be one of the best people to help them translate all of the various and vague prophecies that they stumbled across. Even Eve who had been looking at the man in mild appreciation now saw him for his even greater potential as a translator for them.

"I say we hire him then." Eve said raising her hand. "His personal; life is really of no concern to me and I think that he would be a great addition to our forces and if we really do manage to bring in an office here having him here to help with prophecies would be great."

"Lorne? What do you think that we should do about the Riddler?" Angel questioned the only member that hadn't said anything as of yet. He was ignoring Eve and what she had said and the fact that he had eagerly agreed to help someone that Eve thought was good to be out and about. Whenever that happened he always had flashes of doubt in what it was that he was doing here at Wolfram and Hart.

"I think that it would be useful, and if nothing else he'll be a great person to help with some of the more puzzling aspects of things and we can market his business if we want to. We could also start working on riddle books or something with him and make a fortune that way." The demon added.

"Well Riddler it looks like you have yourself a legal team that is willing to help you out." Angel said offering his hand to the man who nodded his thanks as he shook hands with the dark figure before him. Nodding to the others he then made his way out the door.


	9. Scarecrow

Scarecrow

Scarecrow laughs as he looks at what could be his next victim. "Welcome to my lair." He greeted the figure as it came awake. "I have here an offer for you. You can either give me that disclaimer or you can try and not say it and I'm allowed to use this very special gas on you." He waved a vial full of what was with little doubt one of his fear toxins.

"So unmistakable terror for whatever I fear or I can give you the stinking disclaimer." The texaswookie responds. "As much of a believer in pain as I am I think I'll pass on the gas and give the disclaimer instead. I the texaswookie do hereby deny any ownership rights to the Angel characters who are the creations of Joss Whedon nor do I claim the ownership of any Batman characters as they are the licensed characters of the DC Universe. Does that get me out of having to deal with the gas? The writer asks hopefully.

"I suppose so." Scarecrow admitted not looking overly happy at that particular prospect since he wouldn't be able to hear the beautiful screams or find out what it was that the writer feared. The writer had played by the rules for now he would have to play by them as well the villain thought to himself.

* * *

Angel resisted the urge to pound his head having all of these Gotham psychos was enough to make him wish that he could drink long and hard. Too bad for him there was no alcohol around and even less Irish whisky. He figured that the wet bar on the plane was probably going to get a lot of use tonight if the looks of the others were anything to go by. The things that they were agreeing to represent in their own ways were even worse than some of the demons that they knew of. The demons were evil because they lacked souls but these people were evil because they enjoyed being evil. "Who do we have next?" He questioned the others just wanting to get this over with.

"A Dr. Jonathan Crane." Wesley returned as they all opened the next file in the stacks before them. "He is better known to the city though under the alias of the Scarecrow."

"I have got to say though maybe he would do better if he was given some brighter colors to wear." Lorne suggested as they all looked at the drab colored outfit that was a monstrous parody of a real scarecrow's outfit. He really does now how to do the whole crowd pleaser for the scary and disturbing though."

"What do we know about him?" Angel asked ignoring the joking demon.

"He's been killing since high school and hasn't really stopped since then." Wesley told the group. "He started off with his grandmother, and after that he moved onto a cheerleader and football player. This would be the first time he would actually use the Scarecrow persona that he became so well known for. Using a gun he terrified one of the two teens into a car accident which paralyzed one and killed the other. It was this incident that I would say truly birthed the being known as the Scarecrow even if he didn't ever use the personae again for several more years. He went on through life and became a doctor of psychology. He was fascinated by the concept of fear it seems and did a number of studies into phobias. After college he acquired a position at Arkham Asylum and Gotham University." At this Wesley looked up at the others. "Does anyone else see the irony of the situation where one of the doctors becomes one of the patients?" He asked the curiously as he raised his eyes to look at the others in dry humored curiosity. He then turned back to the file before him. "In a demonstration, he shot a student on accident and was fired from his post at the university. In retaliation he decided to terminate the ones responsible for firing him. He then began his life as a career criminal. He has several known associates in the Gotham criminal underworld like the Riddler, Joker, Two-Face, and Penguin. He has since then added several more deaths to his already impressive list. His primary operation method is to scare someone into doing what he wants them to do. Once they get the backbone to stand up to him though he usually manages to arrange for the death of the person. His primary weapon is a giant sickle which he has some decent skill in using in combat. He also uses his skills in chemistry to create various fear toxins that can be used to make various people scared of different things. A small little bit of trivia on the man is that he has the habit of quoting nursery rhymes from time to time for some odd reason." The Englishman finished off from what he knew of their next prospective client.

"I see, so he could be as unstable as Dru and as violent as Spike then." Angel noted to himself. "Gunn, what do you have on our guy?" He questioned turning to the next member of the team.

Gunn sighed as he looked at the list of crimes they had their potential client for. Catwoman had been so much easier to deal with. "Our man here is not an angel man. He's being charged with multiple counts of murder, resisting arrest, illegal medical experimentation, assault, blackmail, kidnapping, organized crime, attempted murder, assaulting a police officer, stealing, racketeering, terrorism, smuggling, gambling, and assault with a deadly weapon. With all of these charges he's really been working at it."

"Can you get him out of it?" Fred questioned reluctantly from where she was sitting.

"Well I can get him out of the electric chair, but there's no way that I can get him out of prison with some of the charges he's got." Gunn explained to the group. "That's assuming that we want to get him out that is." He said looking the group over.

"Fred, anything that you want to add about him?" Angel asked turning to her.

"Well his work on the human mind and chemistry could be of use to us." Fred admitted to the others reluctantly as she went through some of the notes about his work. "Think of everything that we could do with his work in our possession. From the reports I have the Scarecrow is now practically impervious to fear thanks to all of his work. The only thing that he fears is the Batman guy and maybe bats. Anything and everything else are simply blips on the radar that don't even affect him anymore. Imagine what we could do with the results of that kind of work. What if there was a way to speed up the process so that instead of years of being exposed to terror there was a one shot dose of the fear toxin? Imagine what some armed forces or bodyguards would pay for services like that. With a bit of magic we might be able to pull such a thing off. It could also be used for interrogation or torture where you wouldn't have to touch the subject therefore increasing the amount that you could do to them."

"We really should have recruited you a lot earlier." Eve said in surprise at some of the ideas that the Texas woman was coming up with.

"Not now Eve." Angel said, glad that the other woman had interrupted his friend before she could say anything else. Fred was getting so caught up in the theory that she wasn't thinking of what the result of the research was from. He really needed to find a way to remind her of that before she became lost within her work.

"Spoilsport." Eve grumbled as she leaned back into her chair to wait and see what would happen next.

"Anything you want to add Lorne?" The vampire questioned.

"Not really Angel-cakes, there's nothing that I really can add. From what I do know about our boy though is that he's somewhat unstable and has a tendency to get jumpy when people try and take him on so I would be careful with him." Lorne informed the vampire. "His knowledge and use of rhymes is supposed to be amazing though."

Angel nodded his head. "Send him in." He ordered and the doors opened to admit the man through the doors. They watched as a man dressed just like a monstrous scarecrow walked into the room with chains on his arms and legs. With a gesture from the vampire the guards removed the chains before exiting the room.

"Good evening Dr. Crane." Wesley greeted the man. "The first thing I would like to do is enquire as to what we should call you. Would you prefer to go by your given name and title that you earned, or would you prefer to go by the pseudonym that you have become rather well known for?"

"I shall go by the name of Scarecrow, as I have earned it from multiple sources it wouldn't do to ignore all those that gave me the name whether it be from those fools at the school or the ones that I have a rather professional relationship under this guise." Scarecrow returned to the former Watcher, surprising them all with a highly educated voice. Rough and raw from years of screaming but there was still the unmistakable educated air in his voice.

"Very well then Scarecrow, let us begin then." The other man said. "I am Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, I am in charge of research, Winifred Burkle here is in charge of our technology department, Lorne is our entertainment advisor, Charles Gunn is our lead legal consultant, and then there is Angel our CEO at the Wolfram and Hart LA Branch offices."

"And then there's me Eve, chief consultant and liaison of the Wolfram and Hart senior partners." Eve said with a smile as she waved toward the man dressed to scare. "My spot here is only as an observer though."

"A pleasure I'm sure." Scarecrow returned to her with an awkward looking bow. "Now I suppose we need to discuss my eligibility for legal consultation with your firm if I understand the way things have been going on from some of my fellow inmates. So what is it that I have to prove to you exactly in order for me to become capable of getting your representation in the legal system?"

"We need to assure ourselves that you're a worthwhile prospect." Wesley informed the man before him.

"Yeah, to start off with though we got all of your crimes that they want to charge you with listed right here." Gunn said as he held up the paper with the list of charges he handed the man the paper while he began reading off from his own copy. "Your being charged with multiple counts of murder, resisting arrest, illegal medical experimentation, assault, blackmail, kidnapping, organized crime, attempted murder, assaulting a police officer, stealing, racketeering, terrorism, smuggling, gambling, and assault with a deadly weapon. Honestly man it really doesn't look all that good when you consider everything that you've been doing." Gunn explained to the man.

"Yes well, that's why I've come to you." Scarecrow returned to the young man. "Even if you can just get me a reduced sentence or a minimum security I can do the rest. I do have a reputation for managing to slip out when people aren't watching close enough after all." The man boasted to them with a smirk.

"Uh huh, and what would you do with that freedom if you did manage to get out?" Wesley questioned with interest. "I somehow doubt that you would be doing humanitarian work once you managed to garner your freedom."

You are correct I wouldn't." Scarecrow admitted to the man. I am not like Poison Ivy who is just as likely to kill you as she is to save your life depending on how she feels about things at the time. There is still so much terror to inflict upon the world and then there is the matter of the Batman. I must find a mixture that can incapacitate him permanently. Once I have conquered the Batman I will have finally conquered the last of my fears." The man declared with an almost fanatical tone to his voice as he explained his intentions to them.

"Right," Gunn said as he looked at the man as if he knew beyond a doubt that the man was as crazy as his reputation made him out to be.

"But that's all you plan to do though right, try and make people scared you're not going to try and destroy the world or anything like that?" Fred questioned the man hopefully.

"No my dear I'm afraid I don't have any plans as grandiose as that that for anywhere in the future." Scarecrow admitted. Besides if I was to destroy the world then there wouldn't be anyone to scare anymore. If there was no one to scare then there would be no real fun in life either. He told them all he then seemed to study something as if he was thinking or planning." He explained to them as if it all made perfect sense to him and the others should understand as well. He then began to speak aloud on his next plans. "If I was to make a fear toxin that made people believe the world was ending it might work though. The sheer terror that people would feel if that were to happen would be enormous and might be enough to even affect the Batman I would have to probably travel to Metropolis for some study and the world is always under threat with Superman stopping it."

"And on that slightly disturbing thought how about we vote already kids?" Lorne questioned the others who nodded their heads in agreement while watching the man. "I'll go first despite the creep factor that the guy has there's no real reason to ignore him."

"I concur with Lorne. In his own way the Scarecrow is the same as some of the fear demons that we have association with." Wesley said from his position. "Considering the number of those that we represent we cannot exactly ignore the plight of this man now can we?" The question while worded in the rhetorical there was a small bit of hope that the others would have a reason not to represent the man before them.

"I think it would be great to have him around." Eve said from her seat. "I mean there's so much that we could learn from his stuff."

Fred nodded her head in agreement though looking slightly unsure after having listened to the guy talk about what it was that he had planned for his work once he managed to get free. "He's not trying to destroy the world. That means that he's at least somewhat acceptable by our own rules." She finished off though not sounding very sure of herself.

"You know what I'll vote." Eve said with a smirk.

"And if your vote mattered I might ask you." Angel said to her with a glare. "Gunn what about you? Can you think of any reason for us to not represent Scarecrow?"

"Don't like it man, but they're right there's no reason why we can't represent him for that he's done." Gunn said as he turned to his boss. "Sorry I couldn't help you knock another one out."

Angel nodded as he turned to regard Scarecrow with a dark look. The man returned the look though there was a trace of interest in the eyes of the villain. "There is something about you that is very similar to the Batman. I'm not sure what it is but you have something like him. Maybe it's the way the darkness clings to you or maybe it's the way you command but there is something about you so much like the Batman."

Angel didn't respond to that as he looked at the villain before him. "Personally I would love to take your head and rip it off or something like that." Angel shot at the costumed figure. "However I can't do that for various reasons what's even worse I have to agree that we should represent you. I will tell you this though." Angel growled as he rose to his full height. "Stay out of my city and we won't ever have any real problems between us. Do you understand me?"

Scarecrow felt the smallest trace of fear and grinned as he realized that there as someone else that could make him feel that lovely emotion of fear. "I'll be sure to remember your words." He returned to him. "Just what city is it that I should be avoiding though?"

"Stay out of L.A." Angel returned to him his eyes flashing gold for a minute before he gestured with his hand and the villain was taken out of the room.

Scarecrow tipped his hat to the group as the chains were placed back on him. "Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross

To see a fine lady upon a white horse

With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes

She shall have music wherever she goes

The man quoted back over his shoulder. Angel glared at the back of the criminal but didn't say anything. "When he gets out watch him. He may try and come to LA now." Angel told the others who nodded their heads in agreement.

"That's what happens when you wave a flag in front of a bull though." Eve told the vampire. "What?" She asked as she saw him glare at her. "You threatened him and actually made him feel a bit of fear over you. For a guy like that it's like an invitation to do your worse." Eve explained to him. "Don't blame me if that's not what you had planned when you threatened him."

* * *

(Some may wonder why Fred is having such thoughts that are helping evil incorporated. I think that near the end of her life, {before Illyria} that she detached herself from the ethics and worked mainly in the science of the job. Got a little naïve about what her research was going toward. Personal opinion though.)


	10. Clayface

The Texaswookie groans while watching the giant stride toward him. "You've got to be kidding me. I have to go up against this guy? Isn't that a little unfair?" The writer complains to an uncaring crowd.

"Tough it out." Clayface growls as his hand morphs into a giant spiked mace and just barely misses hitting the writer. "You know that there's only one way to get out of this and I don't intend to give you the chance." The villian growls as he swings again this time coming closer as the writer misjudges the distance and takes a glancing blow to the shoulder.

"I the texaswookie do hereby deny any ownership rights to the characters since they belong to DC and Joss not me." As he calls out the writer is rolling away from an assortment of blows that barely miss.

As the last word leaves his mouth Clayface snarls in anger. "Another minute and I would of had you!" He complains before leaving to find someone else to attack. 

* * *

"Now for the final member of this lovely house of horrors that we've been playing with gang." Lorne said with a relieved smile as he reached for the last of the files. "Our last person is one Mr. Basil Karlo A.K.A Clayface, the true man of a thousand faces." The demon said with a smile.

"That name sounds familiar. Where do I know that name from?" Angel asked the others with interests. "Wes any ideas?" He asked the other man wondering if he knew the name. He also knew that Wesley had researched his past and knew his history as well as anyone could. The former Watcher merely gave a confused shrug wondering how the vampire knew the name as well.

"It's likely that you saw some of his other work Angel-Cakes." Lorne said before the former Watcher could respond to the question anymore. "He was something of a hit as a monster movie actor way back when. He had a couple of really big hits in the day as well."

Angel nodded at that as he recalled the movie now. "Wes, what can you tell me about our guy?"

"Basil Karlo, or Clayface, as he better known to the world at large, is a former actor." Wesley returned to the vampire. "When they remade his most famous monster film however he seemed insulted for some reason and had someone else take on the leading roll he snapped for unknown reasons. He arranged for various accidents to happen and took on the name Clayface after the monster from the film. He was caught and captured eventually and the movie went on with production. Several other criminals have used the moniker of Clayface since then though. All of them were able to shapeshift and their prime form was some sort of sludge like creature. One of these individuals approached him while he was in the prison hospital. All of those that have used the name of Clayface were united and working under the name of the Mud Pack. They continued to go through various crimes while together. Before the group fell apart however Karlo managed to create a serum that gave him powers just like those of his accomplices. Thanks to the serum he now has shapeshifting abilities as well. Due to some unexpected mixing of his body with that of certain crystals he may now be one of the most powerful of the various Clayfaces. Unfortunately, there simply isn't all that much more information on him."

Angel nodded before turning to look at the others. "What do the rest of you guys have on him? There has to be something there?"

"He's been out of the acting game for a while now Angel-cakes." Lorne informed the vampire. "There's just not a whole lot of information on our boy there. He still thinks that his movie was the best copy ever of the film, but he's one of the few. He's got a reputation though as being one of the most heartless of all of the people like him other than that there's almost nothing in the way for information. Sorry Angelkins but that's all I have for you on our current monster." Lorne explained as he tossed what papers he had on the table.

Angel looked to the others curiously. "How about you guys, can you tell me anything about our guy?"

"I can tell you some of the things about his body but not much more than that." Fred explained to him. "The guy has a body that he can use to either shape shift into other forms or he can use his abilities to create various melee weapons out of his body. He has enhanced speed, strength, durability and he has some sort of poisonous touch as well. All together this makes him one of the more dangerous beings in Gotham. Well at least power wise, she amended, "there are several others that are more dangerous because of the way they think. This guy actually managed to beat Poison Ivy once from what some of my reports inform me." At this the other looked slightly surprised when they heard this. Poison Ivy was one of the most powerful of Gothams criminals. For someone to take her out they must be powerful.

Angel nodded at this. "Gunn what can you tell me about our guy?"

"I'm not sure guy would be the right way to refer to this one man." Gunn said as he looked over his information. "I'm not even sure if he's still human or even a person with a sex. At the best I would say that he's an it, not a he or a she."

"Fine, what can you tell me about it then." Angel growled at the lawyer sarcastically.

Gunn nodded as he pulled out the crime sheet. "The crimes are a combination of crimes Clayface committed as both a human and as a non human. The courts didn't want him to slip out on that small technicality. We have multiple counts of assault, kidnapping, murder, blackmail, robbery, sabotage, endangerment, resisting arrest, assaulting an officer, organized crime, identity theft, the destruction of public and private property, and illegal testing. Poison Ivy is also wanting to sue him for things he did during something called No Man's Land. Says he endangered her charges."

"So what can you do about it?" Angel asked the lawyer.

"He's going to jail that's for sure because of his experiments in giving himself powers though it's any ones guess as to where they'll place him though." Gunn said a little unsure himself on what they would do with the criminal. "They might try and place him here permanently or they may move him to a research lab for some reason or other. It will depend on the judge for that call though."

"Show him in, I just want to get this over with and get back home to LA where most of the monsters are demons and the human monsters are not worse than the demonic ones." Angel told them wearily. "I want to be able to slice the head off of something evil and not have to worry about something like a soul or humanity for a change." The others nodded in agreement as the vampire signalled and the door opened a large tube like cylinder was pushed in by the guards. The front was clear and they could see the criminal through the reinforced glass.

"Is there a reason that our potential client is being placed is such confinement?" Gunn questioned, frowning as he looked at the containment cell that the criminal was in. They could what looked like a being just as big if not bigger than the beast. It looked like some sort of monster sculpture and the way that the liquid continued to seem to drip it was like it was melted. The guard merely glared at the lawyer before producing a piece of paper for him. "I see," Gunn said, "I apologize for the misunderstanding then." The guard merely nodded and walked out.

"Gunn?" Angel asked, wondering what it was that had made the lawyer back off. The lawyer rarely ever gave into something like a court order and usually had a few tricks ready if they did. For them to stop him in his tracks must mean something.

"He's a flight risk, and this is the only way that they could transport him from his cell is in this tube because of the unique nature of his abilities." The lawyer explained to his boss and coworkers. "In fact the few times that he has been given some freedom they usually end up scraping someone's remains off the floor. Multiple federal judges have made it mandatory that he be kept in that tube for the safety of those around him." Gunn told the others who nodded as they looked at the creature before them with interest and respect.

"Clayface," Wesley greeted cautiously. "I understand that is all that you go by anymore these days is that correct? If not I apologize for the insult and we can refer to you as Mr. Karlo if that is the name that you would refer to go by."

"I am Clayface." The thing returned to the Englishman in a deep rumbling voice that echoed within the containment tube. Clayface stood tall and proud as if the name he went by was a true badge of honor for some reason to him.

"Thanks there lovely. I guess you don't have all that much trouble with moisturizing huh?" Lorne questioned as he came forward to greet the being. "Now then Clayface baby, allow me to do the introductions. I'm Lorne, I do the entertainment district in the LA branch of Wolfram and Hart. Over there doing the whole British stiff upper lip thing is Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, he's in charge of our research department. Then there's the ever lovely Miss Burkle, who has brains as well as looks. Our girl here is in charge of our technology department. The boy in the slicked back suit is of course the one and only Charles Gunn, the head of the legal department. Then of course there is the one and only dour hero of the night. Finally, I give you the boss man himself. The one and only Angel, the CEO of our branch of Wolfram and Hart." Lorne said as he introduced all of the members of the group with his usual flourish.

"A pleasure." Clayface growled as he observed the group of demon fighters that might be able to help him. "So you're the guys that Joker was telling everybody that would listen about eh? You don't really look like lawyers to me." He growled out.

"Oh and how is that?" Wesley questioned curiously.

"Lawyer boy and the in charge guy are fighters." Clayface returned to the Englishman. "What's more they know the streets. You can see it in their eyes. You, you got some street experience but you aren't real street like them. Not that many that manages to climb all the way up in the world to as high as you got." Clayface said as he regarded the vampire and former street hood.

"We got lucky is all man." Gunn returned to the creature before him. "Now let's talk about your crimes." He said as he began reading off of the list that he had before him. "According to this your being charged multiple counts of assault, kidnapping, murder, blackmail, robbery, sabotage, endangerment, resisting arrest, assaulting an officer, organized crime, identity theft, the destruction of public and private property, and illegal testing. Poison Ivy is also going to try and sue you for things you did during something called No Man's Land. Says you endangered her charges. Nothing will come of what she wants though even though we've agreed to defend her we're also defending you so she'd have to get someone else to represent her as we'd probably be willing to work for you providing that you offer us more on that one."

"Of course," Clayface said. "What about the other charges? Is there any chance for me getting off?"

"Well for some of your crimes I'm sure that we can use the fact that it was unlawful arrest to bring you in. There's also the police brutality that you deal with and the fact that they have been trying to dehumanize you and are possibly denying you your basic rights." Gunn said as he checked things over. "With those charges I can probably get some of the charges dropped against you as well."

"The question is though do we have any real reason in which to be your legal counsel though?" Wesley said as he looked the criminal over.

"What do you want to know that can convince you that I'm worth it? The others said that there was some sort of test and didn't seem to mind too much with the test either." Clayface asked curiously.

"What are your plans for once you do manage to get free Clayface? What will you do and where will you go?" Angel asked coolly as he regarded the creature before him.

"I'll continue things the way I always have get rich and tear the Batman apart when I find him." Clayface returned to them. "The guy is just begging for me to destroy him and the best way to deal with the Bat is to deal with this crummy city. I figure I can get rich and get my revenge at the same time."

"What about after that, what are your plans then?" Wesley questioned curiously.

"Who knows, maybe I'll find me a nice island to buy or maybe I'll stick around here. There are so many options right now that I think that I would rather wait before I make any decisions." Clayface returned to the man. "Now then, are you going to help me get out of here or am I going to have to find another way out and have to kill anyone that gets in my path?" The creature asked him curiously.

"You certainly know how to keep a grudge there big fella." Lorne noted to the being who smirked at the demon who merely swallowed nervously back at him.

"Alright people opinions now." Angel demanded of the others as he looked the group over.

"I say we work with him." Lorne said. "While I doubt that we'll ever have anything in common other than our looks setting people off I don't think that what he's done is enough for us to not agree to represent him either." The demon told the vampire.

"I agree with Lorne, his crimes and ambitions are not in contrast with our own. I sincerely doubt that we have to worry about him doing anything other than trying to kill people or maybe control them. He is however not the threat that some beings could be." Wesley said as he looked the creature over with distaste. The demon hunter in the man insisted that the being before him was one that he should be trying to kill not how to put it back into humanity.

Angel turned to the lawyer curiously though he already seemed resigned to the answer that he was going to be given. Still he had to hope and try. The vampire thought. "Gunn?"

"Yeah like they said man there's no reason not to." Gunn said shrugging though he looked annoyed at his answer.

"Fred?" Angel asked hopefully.

"Sorry Angel, but there's nothing that I can think of that would make it so that we shouldn't represent him." The Texas born scientist said to him sorrowfully.

"I think he is a important part to the Gotham Underworld and that it would be wrong to deny one of their members of representation." Eve said with a cheery smile getting a glare from the vampire who was doing his best not to leap at her.

"Shut up Eve! Your vote does not count so put a sock in it before I find a cell for you to be kept in until we're done here." The vampire growled out at her. The nod he got from her seemed to be enough to satisfy him. He then turned back to regard Clayface. "Fine." Angel said as he turned to face the criminal doing his best to ignore the woman. "We'll represent you." Clayface smiled in acknowledgement. The smirk stayed on his face even as the guards came and carted the tube that he was stuck in.


	11. Leaving

****

**The texaswookie looks up to see the figure of the Batman standing before him. The dark vigilante didn't say anything he merely grabbed the writer by the scruff of his jacket and hung him out over a building ledge. "You have a choice in this." The caped crusader informed him. "You can either tell the world your disclaimer or we can see in what kind of shape you'll be in after I drop you off the side of the building. I promise it won't kill you but it will hurt and you'll most likely have several broken if not shattered bones due to you landing. He stated calmly and if it wasn't for the dark tone in his voice one would have thought that he wasn't threatening someone's life but it was. "After that I'll bring you back up here again ask you again and we can continue with the process until you make the right choice in this matter."**

"Alright fine." The writer gasps out as he looks down fearfully. "Just don't drop me. Whatever you do don't drop me." He begged of the Dark Knight that was holding the writers life in his hands.

"Then do as you're told already and you won't have to worry about anything bad happening." Batman growled to the writer. "You might want to hurry it up though before I lose my patience or my arm get tired and I let you fall all the way down by accident." To emphasize the need for speed the vigilante let the writer drop a few inches before catching him again. "It's an awfully long drop. He observed to the writer.

"All right." The writer yelps out fearfully. "I the texaswookie, do declare myself to not be the owner of either the D.C comics universe characters particularly that of the Batman the Gotham police department, Batman's Rogues Gallery, or any related characters. These characters are the creative and intellectual property of D.C comics. Nor do I lay any claims whatsoever to the character of Angel or any of the associated characters from Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or the various comic books. These items are the creations of Joss Whedon and I had nothing whatsoever to do with their portrayal or conception in anyway. "Can you please put me down somewhere safe now?" The writer questions the dark figure hopefully. Batman nods and dumps him onto the ground. By the time that the writer had untangled himself from the mess of he had been dumped into the Batman had already disappeared leaving no sign he had even been there moments before except for the scared writer who was left wondering how he was going to get down from where he now was. "Great," the writer says as he feels his legs collapse beneath him as the fear finally gets to him over what had happened.

* * *

"Alright, let's get out of here before something else comes up and we have to deal with it." Gunn said as he began gathering the various files up so that they could get out as quickly as possible. As they were gathering their things Angel reached over and took the legal pad that Eve had been using all through the meeting. "I thought so." He said as he finished skimming through it. Before turning to glare at Eve. "You want to explain this?" He asked her.

_Gotham City Branch of Wolfram & Hart_

_C.E.O-Ra's al Ghul_

_Head of Legal Department-Two-Face_

_Head of Science Division-Mr. Freeze_

_Chief Interrogator-Scarecrow_

_Head of Research and Prophecies Department-Riddler_

_Head of Security-Bane_

_Head of Business Division-Penguin_

"Do you have any idea what those beings could do if they were put in charge of a branch of Wolfram and Hart?" The vampire demanded of the woman. "If we're lucky they would only drag the city down with them when they made everything implode. That's not even counting the amount of attention that the place would be under if they knew that the place was being run by these people."

"He has a point there sugar plum. You get these people to do their thing in a Wolfram & Hart place and you'll likely have the law raining down on your head all the time." Lorne pointed out to her. "You put a terrorist in charge and they're not very likely to listen to whatever else it is that you have to say."

"True but this is just a list of potential positions though." Eve explained to them, trying to make it sound better.

"It's asking for trouble." Angel said darkly, his face cold. "Even if we do manage to get them off, do you actually think that people are just going to forget some of the things that they've done?"

"It's our job to prove them innocent we don't have to worry about any of the other things." Eve returned being stubborn. Her eyes, normally so deviously passive, were now challenging Angel's authority.

Angel responded by ripping the paper up. "That's what I think of you and your plans to have career criminals and psychotics performing legal duties." Angel informed her before turning around, not even considering her a threat. It was a calculated insult that Angel knew she would pick up on.

Eve glared at the back of the vampire angrily. "So says the guy that stopped world peace from happening." She retorted causing Angel to freeze in his tracks and glower back at her. "You try to act like your better than me, but all of you have sold your souls just the same as I did. The only real difference between us was that you had higher prices."

As the group were led out of the building they froze as they saw various members of law enforcement waiting for them outside. Standing at the front of the crowd was Commissioner James Gordon with two of his top detectives on either side of him . A small pretty Puerto Rican woman who had a hard glint in her dark eyes, and a heavy set man with broad shoulders and an intelligent yet lazy look in his eyes. The pair were some of Gotham's most well known cops, Gordon's most trusted and loyal Detectives on a Police force full of corruption. The woman was Detective Montoya. She was a 'by the rules' cop with a few edges but she did her job efficiently and thoroughly. The man was Detective Bullock, a man who was known as one of the cops that you should watch out for. He was the one that took small bribes on the side but he was also the man that was insanely loyal to Gordon and never backed down on the big cases no matter how much was offered. No one was more loyal to the man then he was.

"Commissioner Gordon." Angel greeted stoically, nodding respectfully as he faced off with the powerful lawman before him.

"Mr. Angel." Gordon greeted coolly, his face a mask of sternness. Bullock glared at Angel and company with his suspicious gray eyes, gnawing with determination at his toothpick while his partner merely kept her face stern and professional like the Commissioner.

"To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?" The Master Vampire, asked curiously as he watched the various officers for any sort of quick movement or hint of body language that could signal an attack or give some hint to their thoughts. He didn't think that they wanted to attack them, but it wouldn't be the first time he got into a fight with law enforcement either.

"We're here to make sure that you get onto that fancy private jet of yours and don't look back." Bullock informed the man gruffly. "We wouldn't want you getting lost in Gotham, it ain't always the friendliest places. Just wanna make sure that you don't have something that holds you here."

"Gotham does have an unfortunate habit of doing its best to hold onto you once you come into Gotham." Gordon agreed with the man stonily. "It's very hard to leave Gotham after you've been here. It's like the place is always drawing in the darkness of people, making them want to stay. We're here to make sure that you don't have any accidents and decide to stay." The aging man told them bluntly, letting them know that he knew of their reputation for getting questionable people off the hook very well. "We have enough lawyers with questionable ethics when it comes to the likes of Two-Face. We don't need or want to add Wolfram and Hart people to the list of people that we have to deal with."

"That's perfectly understandable." Wesley returned to the man, his own poker face on. "However, I must say that comparing us to the people we defend is hardly a polite thing to do." He admonished them.

"A person is judged by the company that they keep." Montoya responded to the man, remembering the old saying he mother always told her when she brought over a few rough friends as girl. "And after listening to the list of people that you willingly went and saw can you blame us for being concerned that you weren't somehow affected by one of the various people that you met with today? Anyone that could meet with all of those people and not be affected would probably be better off getting a room right alongside the people in here." The Hispanic Detective shuddered as if she knew exactly what it was that she was talking about. The Wolfram & Hart people wondered how much interaction that she had with the Gotham crazies to react like that.

"Hear that Eve? These guys think that our clients are as disturbing and dangerous as the rest of us do." Angel mocked the liaison, unable to resist rubbing her nose in it after her defiance earlier. Something he carried over from his years as Angelus. "It looks like they have more common sense than you do when it comes right down to it." He looked the various cops over calculatingly, judging their worth. "I don't enjoy the fact that my firm agreed to defend these psychos. I know better than most anyone else that they belong in a deep dark pit where no one can ever touch be exposed to them ever again. However there are rules that we have set up that makes it impossible for us to not represent these guys." He explained to them, barely keeping his face from revealing how his next sentence made him want to vomit. "The Senior Partners wanted this done, it had to be done."

"A victim of the system and politics from on high then?" Gordon questioned and Angel gave a reluctant nod. "Sounds like it's a bit too familiar."

"More like from down below." Eve stated, with an evil grin silently enjoying how much more knowledgeable about the world she was than the normal people who supposed to be powerful. It felt good to hint to the good guys about everything they didn't know. "We are evil after all."

"Evil Lawyers what a surprise." Bullock shot back at her, his voice as dry as New Mexico real estate. "I wouldn't be surprised if you people had a connection with the devil itself."

While the eyes of the various cops were still hard and offered no mercy, there was now a trace of understanding within them now as they looked at Angel. They had all been ordered off a case that should have been solved, been forced to let bad guys go who deserved to spend the rest of their lives rotting in Blackgate. They understood, but that didn't mean that they were lenient in the slightest.

"Fine, I don't like it but fine. Now I want you out of the city before anything happens." Gordon said finally after judging the situation, not wanting to get involved in whatever the vampire had going on. "I don't need someone like you and your firm causing more troubles for our city this though. We have enough problems without you adding all of your legal tricks to them." He informed the entire group while glaring at them.

"Really man what's going to happen? You afraid we'll meet the big bad Batman or something?" Gunn asked mockingly with a short fearless laugh. After growing up in the Bad Lands of Los Angeles, the lawyer wasn't afraid of some white boy in body armor. If he really did exist at all, which Gunn doubted. It sounded like a ploy cooked up by cops tired of endless corruption and crime. "I don't know how exactly you've managed to keep that urban legend scam going in this city for so long but I have to admit I'm impressed that it's lasted as long as it has." He complimented, smiling at them all. "You've got all of the people in this place convinced that they were arrested by some sort of super ninja that dresses up like a bat of all things. How much work does it take to get all of that done anyways? Three guys, seven, more?"

Several of the cops stiffened at that and looked to Gordon for guidance on the move that they would have to make next. It was a rumor they had all heard one time or another, one that never failed to make more on the take cops uneasy around their brother officers.

"Get them in the car." Gordon ordered, having gotten tired of conversation and the unwanted company of the possibly evil team of lawyers. He also wanted to reassure some of the, while not quite perfect, still good men he had with him, even if they had taken a bribe or two. "Let him keep thinking that there's nothing to be afraid of. After that I want you to inspect everyone in there on the off chance that they managed to slip something out of the room without the guards being aware of it." The various officers nodded their understanding of the orders as the group stepped into the night to obey their orders.

Angel paused as he felt something, it was almost like there was a presence out there that he could feel. It caused the hairs to prickle on the back of his neck, centuries of instinct told him that he was being watched by a predator. His eyes scanned the area around them, the roofs and shadowy corners. For the unlife of him Angel couldn't see anything even with his vampiric vision but his gut was telling him that there was an enemy out there and he was more inclined to listen to his gut than a lot of other things. Particularly when it came to being watched or he thought that he was about to be attacked, it was one of the reasons that he was still alive after two and a half centuries in a hostile world full of hunters, Slayers, and vampire hating demons.

Angel's arm shot out into the air and wrapped around the rope that had been falling toward him in reflex before withdrawing his arm from the knot. Glaring upward, the Master Vampire then leaped high into the air bouncing off window sills and stone corners a few times as he moved swiftly upward with the grace of a hunter. He came to the top of the building where a figure dressed all in black was waiting for him. At first, he didn't seem human and Angel thought he may have been one of the few gargoyles left in the world, but the gap in the cowl for his mouth gave the Batman's humanity away. Not even his scent told Angel anything, it was covered up by some peppery smell that made Angel's nose itch and his eyes water.

"What are you doing in my city?" The figure demanded of him with a voice that practically oozed dominance. A dark baritone that would intimidate most beings into spilling whatever was asked of them if only so that the voice would leave them alone. If that failed then the vengeful eyes, formidable reputation, and torturous interrogations would certainly ensure cooperation.

Angel, on the other hand, had faced off against some of the world's most powerful and vile creatures, including some that were currently his clients. A voice wasn't going to scare the vampire very easily.

"Who are you?" The vampire questioned in return, ignoring the other dark figure's question.

"I'm Batman." The figure said standing up to his full height as the cape blew in the breeze as they looked down at the figures below. Angel took a moment to examine the figure before him. He wore a dark light absorbing outfit and there was the outline of a bat on the chest. A voluminous black cape nearly swallowed his armored form and the cowl that gave him a bat like appearance was rather frightening. On his waist he wore some sort of dark golden belt that had all sorts of side compartments on it.

"So you're the Batman, huh?" He questioned as he looked the figure over, studying him intensely with his greater experience. "I was half expecting a gargoyle or something else like that personally." He admitted as he eyed the figure looking for any weakness in him. For a human, he was very skilled in hiding any possible unguarded points without appearing on guard.

"What I am doesn't matter." Batman returned, with a growl to his voice. "Now what do you think that you are doing in my city?" He repeated as he glared at the vampire that had dared to enter his city and tried to free the deadly occupants of Arkham. "Meeting with the most psychotic criminals in the city, if not the country, is not wise. It attracts dangerous attention."

"It's my job." Angel defended, meeting the deadly stare with one of his own. "You have your job and I have mine. By the way, trying to yank me up from the street when I was just leaving is not a good way to spur my departure."

"Stay out of Gotham. It is of no concern to you. " The Dark Knight demanded, his tone more ordering than asking and remaining as dangerous sounding as ever. "If you ever try to do anything other than offer legal counsel for the people here then I'll get involved. I'll attack you so many different ways that you'll wish you've never been born. In the end, everyone will know that to associate with you is to bring me down on them by your broken forms. Wolfram and Hart are not welcome. Spread the word."

"Can't give any promises. You'll have to speak to the guys in charge, I just work here."Angel said, glaring at the arrogant human. After a second, a cocky and almost cruel gleam came to once Scourge of Europe's eyes. "I wonder if you even having any skill beneath all that tough talk and metal. You know, I've been sitting in a room with some of the depraved people I have ever met for the last eight hours so I'm feeling a little tense. How about a little spar?"

Batman seemed to hesitate for a moment before he launched himself forward, unable to resist the chance to put the cocky lawyer in his place. The two dark figures attacked as one. Batman came in high with a hay-maker while Angel went for the solar plexus, the two were a blur as they exchanged vicious blows. Batman was the more skilled fighter, but Angel was the more experienced one and far stronger and faster than his human opponent, though he held back the majority of his power. After a few moments, the two sprang apart and began circling one another calculatingly as they caught their breath.

'That armor's helpful,' Angel noted as he looked at the body armor again. Some of his blows he was sure would have been enough to put the other man out of the fight but the armor he wore seemed to absorb damage as easily as it did the surrounding light. If he wanted to affect the man he would have to use his super strength because nothing less was going to affect him. The Batman's blows had actually hurt though. While none of the damage was serious each blow had felt extremely painful as he had used pressure points, attacks to the joints, and other such disabling techniques. Batman was watching him warily, evidently he was a lot better than the vigilante had been expecting.

"Your decent at Martial Arts." Batman acknowledged, his face grim but unworried. "But there's more than one way to fight and a large difference between skill and mastery." He then threw down some small pellets at the feet of the vampire. Each of the pellets then released some sort of smoke that hid the pair from each other. Angel stopped his body from breathing and was ready when the figure came flying in from above a re-breather attached to his face. The two continued fighting, an intricate and elaborate dance that grew riskier with every second that passed. Batman reached into his belt and pulled something else out that was hidden from sight by the folds of his cape. As Angel moved forward to attack before Batman could use whatever device he had grabbed, a flare activated between them and flashed brightly thus blinding the vampire. Batman, immediately taking advantage of his physically stronger foe's temporary weakness, moved forward and delivered a combination of powerful punches and crushing kicks to the vampire. One of the blows slammed him on the edge of the building and Angel had to flail around for a moment to regain his balance.

As he righted himself Angel growled at the vigilante and backhanded the man with vicious speed. The blow was hard enough that another vampire or demon would have been stunned and sent the man flying back. Angel shook his head in pain as his eyes adjusted to the small amounts of light. "That hurt." Angel said, as he looked around for where his opponent had disappeared to.

"Then stay out of Gotham, or the next time we meet I won't go as easy." Batman's voice returned from the darkness. Angel was still slightly disoriented and couldn't focus as well as he would have liked on where the figure was. "Gotham is my city and I deal with the ones who try to hurt it in a very final way." The voice said promising more pain if the vampire ever returned to his city.

"That goes both ways." Angel returned to him. "I'll know what to expect from you as well." He tried to adjust his jacket but finally tossed it to the side as he saw the shape it was in. The jacket had several rips in it where the Bat's bladed gauntlets had ripped into it. The back was also slightly shredded from where he had been pushed into the ledge. He would have to get a new one before he could do anything else now. Looking down, he saw the line that had dragged him up. Picking it up he used it to rappel himself back down the side of the building.

"Angel!" The others said as they rushed to check on him. Eve ignored the drama and was continuing her stare off with the cops, looking for all the world like a territorial Siamese Cat. He landed a bit painfully and everyone looked up . If it had been a second sooner or later then they wouldn't have spotted the Batman standing on a rooftop surrounded by gargoyles high above them as his cape billowed around him dramatically.

"Huh, the Bat actually did something worthwhile for once." Bullock said as he watched the group check the beaten CEO. "First for everything, I guess."

"Quiet Harvey." Montoya snapped at her partner. She knew that lawyers could make a big deal out of this if they chose to and she didn't want them to have any extra fuel if they chose to make something of it.

"We're going." The vampire said in annoyance as he painfully climbed up to his feet. He staggered for a second and winced, but limped to the group bruised and scratched.

"Lorne anything?" Fred questioned as she checked the vampire over for any serious injuries.

"Nothing that I want to talk about with anyone Freddykins." The green skinned demon admitted as he looked up and shivered. "That one has a path as dark and confusing as our boy does. Tons of misplaced rage and obsession." The demon explained to them. "Don't ask me to explain anything more than that though." He begged of them, shivering as he heard the psychic echo of two gunshots and the anguish scream of a little boy.

"You mean he's real?" Gunn asked in disbelief as he followed the direction the demon was looking at and looked high up to the top of the building. At the very top with a flapping cape in the wind was the Batman looking back down on them from on high. "Huh, well fifty says he's a bored rich boy out for kicks.." He paused before adding in a much lower voice. "..or another champion trying to make things right."

"He's very real." Gordon said, gazing up at the impressive spectacle. "Just because you didn't want to believe in him doesn't make what he is any less real." Gordon said, nodding toward the figure high above them. "In fact, it might be better if you don't believe he's real."

"And just what exactly is he?" Wesley asked curiously as his eyes followed after the dark figure. There was an almost demonic quality to the figure that made even him pause. Gordon already had his back to the group and was walking away when that question came out. "Some sort of demon?"

"Demon? Some call him that. Some say that he's the devil or some sort of vampire, but there's only one real way to describe him." Gordon informed the group, chuckling a bit as he pulled out his pipe and stuffed it full of Wild Country tobacco.

"And what would that be?" Fred asked, curiously as she watched the cops begin to leave since their mission to see to it that the group left as quickly as possible was now done. Two cops remained behind, holding open the door to a car for the group to leave in. It was almost funny how eager they were for the former Angel Investigations to leave.

Gordon only had a few words to say to that particular question before he got in his car. It was all the statement that he needed to say when it came to that particular question. "He's the Batman."

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**Big thanks to thelaughingman for doing beta and detail work that made this chapter a lot better in my opinion. I'd say it doubled how good it was at the least. If I make another one of these I will have tobeg him to help me out again.**


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